The Knicks practiced for three hours Saturday; could lineup changes be in store?

Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek laid into his players — particularly the starters — following Friday night’s 131-123 loss to the Nuggets. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time — he has had harsh words after every game for pretty much the last six weeks — but at least he followed through in the next day’s practice.

The players were put through a three-hour workout on Saturday. Here’s what Hornacek had to say about the practice, per the Daily News:

“Maybe it’s putting them out of their comfort zone in practice, really pushing them, really telling them to get up, they may foul each other, but they have to get that mentality of how hard they can go. Breaking through that ceiling of what they think that is, and what their level can be, is what us as coaches need to do.”

“They have a comfort level with how hard they work,” he added later. “And it’s up to us as coaches to try to make them go harder.”

I can already picture Derrick Rose whining to coaches about an uncalled foul while someone scores on the other end.

So they were honest with one another. Cool. Honesty hasn’t really been a problem for this club. They give honest assessments of their crappy performances all the time. Will they actually follow through Sunday afternoon against the toughest opponent they’ll face on this abysmal home stand, the San Antonio Spurs? More importantly, will Hornacek act by giving more minutes — perhaps even starter’s minutes — to players who have earned them?

I guess we’ll find out soon enough.