I know perfectly well that this is the time of the year to give thanks, but our two NBA teams have been making that concept exceedingly difficult for fans of either team. Let us count the ways:
1. The Knicks are 4-12 heading into tonight’s game against the Thunder in Oklahoma City and probably won’t have Carmelo Anthony for the second straight game because of back spasms.
It’s bad enough that Derek Fisher is going to have to try to win without his one true star and the only Knick's player other teams have to double team. But the Thunder, also 4-12, could have Russell Westbrook back in the lineup for the first time since breaking his right hand on Oct. 30 in the Thunder’s second game of the season.
There is also talk that reigning MVP Kevin Durant will be ready to play after breaking his foot on Oct. 12 in pre-season. But it seems there’s a better chance that the Knicks will see Westbrook and that’s nothing to be thankful for. The Knicks’ point guards are walking liabilities at the defensive end of the floor and that will only be magnified if they have to try to defend one of the NBA’s top athletes.
Either way, it could be a real Black Friday for the Knicks as they conclude their holiday trek through Texas and Oklahoma.
2. Phil Jackson can help out during the team’s second straight poor start to the season, right? Well, not exactly.
The team’s $60-million president returned to his home base of Playa Del Rey, California, for the holiday. Lest anyone think that the Zen Master was just getting a little R&R in the nice 80-degree weather, he sent out a tweet in which he wanted to set the record straight. Sounding a little perturbed by the idea that he was trying to get away from all of the losing, he stated for the record that his visit was to have medical tests performed.
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Jackson might need a second knee replacement surgery and has a difficult time getting around. He also is of no mind to see the team play on the road, so much so that he has yet to see his team play away from the Garden.
3. The Knicks’ schedule doesn’t get any easier when they return home this weekend, with the Heat, Nets and Cavaliers coming to the Garden. True, it’s not exactly having to play the Grizzlies, Warriors and Blazers _ the top teams out West _ but it’s still going to be a challenge, especially if Anthony can’t take the court.
The Knicks have yet to face the LeBron-less Heat this season, but they were embarrassed by the Nets, 110-99, a few weeks back. They did shock the Cavs in LeBron James’ first game back in Cleveland since jumping back to the Cavs last summer as a free agent. But how many miracles can Fisher expect in one season against the best player on the planet?
4. The Nets almost suffered the ultimate indignity when they were taken down to the final minute before finally beating back the winless Sixers on Thanksgiving eve. Against a team with hardly any scoring options, the Nets looked old and slow, but emerged with the victory against the NBA’s only remaining winless team when their resident fossil, Kevin Garnett, drained a clutch jumper in the last 33 seconds. Despite the win, the Nets came away from the game admitting they still have a long way to go. But they can be thankful that they get to play the dreadful Sixers three more times this season.
5. Even Mikhail Prokhorov can’t be very happy with his team’s 6-8 start. The stats don’t lie: The Nets are 6-2 against teams with sub-.500 records and 0-6 against teams with winning marks. Here’s who they’ve beaten: The Thunder twice, the Knicks, Magic, Sixers and Pistons. Combined, those teams are 17-61.
6. Nets coach Lionel Hollins can’t be thankful for the next stretch of games, even if he does get to face the Knicks in the Garden on Tuesday, when Anthony still might be sidelined with his back injury. Starting Sunday when the Bulls come to Barclays Center, the Nets over the next 11 days have to run a difficult gauntlet of teams, with dates against the Spurs, Hawks, Cavs and Bulls again, out in Chicago.
7. Hollins came to the Nets after leading the Grizzlies to their first ever Western Conference Finals. But he’s already come to the realization that he won’t be able to have the same kind of hard-nosed team that was among the league’s premier defensive clubs. As he put it, “I can’t play the way I would totally like to play because that’s not the personality of this team.’’
8. Not that he’ll help at the defensive end, where so many of their troubles start, but the Knicks still don’t know when Andrea Bargnani is going to make his season debut.
9. Anthony reveals in a soon-to-be released documentary, "Carmelo Anthony: Made in NY", that he seriously thought at one point last summer that he’d be leaving the Knicks to join the Bulls. As Anthony reveals, during his visits to Houston, Dallas, Chicago and L.A. last summer when he was a free agent, “It was a perfect set-up and perfect fit for me in Chicago. But also I had to think about just living in Chicago. Do I want to live in Chicago? Do I want to take everything I created in New York and move all of that?’’ He hasn’t created enough winning since he’s called the Garden home, that’s for sure. But maybe one day Knicks fans will be thankful that he wore the blue and orange.
10. Even New Yorkers who don’t play for the Knicks or Nets are having it rough during this Thanksgiving holiday period. Lance Stephenson hasn’t gotten off the bench in either of the Charlotte Hornets’ last two fourth quarters, and Sebastian Telfair, another Brooklyn product, was waived by the Thunder the day before Thanksgiving. At least Stephenson still has a job, for which he should be thankful.
Longtime New York columnist Mitch Lawrence continues to write about pro basketball, as he’s done for the last 21 years. His columns for NBCNewYork.com on the Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and the NBA, along with other major sports, will appear twice weekly. Follow him on Twitter @Mitch _ Lawrence.
