Knicks have done the impossible: put New York City to sleep
NEW YORK -- Lifeless.
Hate resorting to the old definition-writing cliché, but in this case, it's a necessary evil. Deprived of life. Dead. Without animation, liveliness or spirit. Dull. Inanimate.
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| Much to the chagrin of those who still care, Isiah Thomas is still at the helm of the Knicks. (Getty Images) |
On a Saturday night in New York City, filled with hustle, bustle, bright lights and people shivering as they take the final puffs of their cigarettes, the world's most famous arena has turned into a refuge from the cold and little more. Isiah Thomas' Knicks have done this. They've turned the city that practically bred basketball into a sellout crowd filled with zombies.
Oh yeah, New York beat New Jersey 94-86 on Saturday night, climbing out of the Eastern Conference basement by virtue of its win and Miami's loss to Indiana.
An announced crowd of 18,225 filled the Garden and sounded like it should've been over in Queens, at Flushing Meadows. Very courteous, this bunch. At least the people were warm.
"They're having some troubles like we're having right now, so maybe that's the reason," the Nets' Nenad Krstic said. "It used to be more crowded and loud."
The sad truth is that the Knicks and Nets, both under .500 and hopelessly lost behind Boston in the Atlantic Division, have sparked one of the world's most passionate hotbeds for basketball to lose interest. It's like England cooling on soccer.
There seemed to be no friendly rivalries in the stands, no animosity between the players who compete for attention. If anything, there's compassion. The Nets read every day how bad and hopeless the Knicks are. Meanwhile, Jason Kidd skipped out on the last game between these teams because of a migraine, pulling the lid off a boiling pot of displeasure with how New Jersey is faring.
New York beat the Nets for only the third time in 22 tries since Kidd took over as point guard and were happy to do it, even if they were stepping over a team mired in a similar muck.
"It's New York, man. They're a hard city. They love their team. They want to get wins, point blank," said Knicks guard Quentin Richardson. "From that standpoint there's pressure, but they have to understand we're going through a tough stretch and we just go out and try to keep chipping away at it. Tonight we got a good win."
Judging by the crowd reaction, which even mixed in a haphazard chorus of "Fire Isiah" at the tail end, nobody even seems to care anymore. In the last week, the Knicks lost a home-and-home to Philadelphia and dropped another game to Seattle, allowing rookie Kevin Durant to become the story. This used to be a city that took pride in its warriors. Now it roots for the other team. Since the Nets are struggling too and within proximity, they don't count as the "other" team, either. They're just another disappointment.
"It seems to be a little dead. I think," said Nets guard Marcus Williams, who is hoping that Tuesday's game against Sacramento might be the night he makes his return, but is expecting to be back by week's end. "I think our fans have confidence in us because in the last couple years this is how we've started, just starting off a little slow and picking it up towards the middle end of the season, but it's tough. It's tough to fight back.
