The New York Knicks really screwed the pooch this week, winning two games in a row and blowing their comfortable lead for the league's worst record. They are now tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the all-important win column (Keep in mind that the tank race works as the inverse of the playoff race, so the win column counts more than the loss column. You can always lose more games, but you can't un-lose those wins). Here are the standings, courtesy of Tankathon.com:
The good news is that no team has gained ground on New York over their last ten games. But we need a losing streak to get this tank back on track!
TANK NEWS:
- The Wolves might be New York's biggest threat at the moment, but they also looked ready to strengthen their roster with the return of Kevin Martin, Nikola Pekovic and Ricky Rubio.
Um...about that Rubio thing:
Ricky Rubio’s ankle injury is worse than previously thought http://t.co/9ILXnlAJBh
— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) January 22, 2015
Crap! At this rate, Rubio will miss the rest of the season while Carmelo Anthony limps around the court long enough to ensure the Wolves get more ping-pong balls come the summer.
- The Boston Celtics had been charging straight into the toilet of late, losing 12 of their last 15 games heading into Thursday night's clash in Portland. But then an angel came down from heaven and turned a surefire Celtics loss into a glorious (for the Knicks anyway) victory. That angel is named Evan Turner:
God bless you, Evan Turner. You never fail to help every team but your own.
TANK PREVIEW: 1/23 - 1/29
This will be another huge week for the Knicks, with three of their next five games coming against teams the dregs of the NBA:
Fri. (1/23) | Magic |
Sat. (1/24) | @Hornets |
Mon. (1/26) | Kings |
Wed. (1/28) | Thunder |
Thurs. (1/29) | @Pacers |
There are a few back-to-backs in there, so hopefully Melo and Amar'e Stoudemire take some rest days, starting Friday night. After this week, though, I'm not very optimistic.
Get back on the program, Knicks!