After a 109-103 victory over the Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said Monday that he didn't think the team could have recovered from another close, heartbreaking loss. The Knicks came close to blowing a 16-point fourth-quarter lead against Indiana, breaking custom by finding a way to win at the end.
"We've been losing close games, and we lose another one like that it is tough and probably would have quit, called it a year probably," Hornacek said, via the New York Post's Marc Berman. "You never know how guys are going to respond."
The Knicks' three most recent losses to the Phoenix Suns, Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks have all been decided by one possession. Two weeks ago, they lost by one point to the Philadelphia 76ers on a buzzer-beater from guard T.J. McConnell. The week before that, they lost by one point to the Milwaukee Bucks, with Giannis Antetokounmpo making the game-winner.
New York entered the game against the Pacers having lost 13 of 16 games, and, at 11th in the Eastern Conference. These coin-flip losses could wind up keeping the team out of the playoffs.
It is hard to overstate how close the Knicks came to throwing another game away. With 7:48 left, they held a 98-82 lead. With 2:10 left, they were up 100-99. If not for a timely jumper from Carmelo Anthony and a not-so-timely turnover from Myles Turner, this could have been a complete catastrophe.
The most optimistic New York fans hope that this will be a turning point. Guard Derrick Rose told reporters, "Maybe we're figuring it out." If the Knicks have indeed gained confidence from this, though, it is tenuous. The Indiana game showed they are still by nature an indecisive, slow, iso-heavy team in crunch time. That's a serious problem, as is their overall defensive ineptitude. New York might have avoided a full-on meltdown, but it isn't out of the woods.
