Sixers 108, Knicks 92: Knicks keep tanking, we never change

First off, kudos to anyone who gets the reference. I did my best.

Anyways, the Knicks rolled into Philadelphia on Monday looking to lose their seventh straight game and keep the tank rolling along. They hung around just long enough for the game to be semi-competitive, before falling to the Sixers 108-92 at the Wells Fargo Center.

Surprisingly, New York looked like a competent basketball team for a whole half. Despite trailing 31-21 at the end of the first quarter, the Knicks received some inspired play from their bench and would cut the Philly lead to just two points by halftime.

However, the second half was same old Knicks (I sense a theme here). They tied the game up with just over four minutes remaining in the third quarter, before promptly surrendering 13 of the next 19 points to end the period trailing by a score of 86-79.

The final quarter was all Sixers, as Philadelphia tallied the first eight points of the period and never looked back, coasting to a comfortable win.

The Knicks scored just 13 points in the final period of play.

Notes:

— The biggest story of the game (outside of the fact that the Knicks now have the ninth-worst record in the association and are hurtling towards a lottery pick), was that we let T.J. McConnell, of all people, put up a triple double on them. The #gritty Sixers guard finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in the victory.

— Current star of the team Michael Beasley scored 22 points to lead the visitors. The Knicks were playing their third game without the fallen unicorn, All-Star Kristaps Porzingis, who is out for the year with a torn ACL. If all there was to life was getting buckets, it would be hard to argue with 22 points on 9-17 shooting. Alas, the Beas also turned it over 4 times and finished with a team-worst minus-19.

— Courtney Lee did well in an unfamiliar role tonight. He had 18 points in his first game coming off the bench this season for the Knicks. Lee had started all 57 games this season, but Jeff Hornacek elected to go with Lance Thomas for defensive purposes to guard Simmons. Once again, the indisputable in-game coaching prowess of Hornacek is on full display.

— It was another rough night at the point guard position for New York. Recent acquisition Emmanuel Mudiay had seven points and four rebounds in 19 minutes, but also finished with a plus/minus of -18, second worst on the team only to Michael Beasley.

— Despite posting a team-high plus/minus of plus-4, rookie Frank Ntilikina was unimpressive on the night, especially offensively. The French Prince of New York posted zero points, zero assists and three turnovers in one of his worst offensive games in recent memory. He also got worked by McConnell tonight so I’m sure that was embarrassing, and hopefully a sign that he should be getting more minutes every night at this rate.

— This ref looks like me in front of my TV

— I’ll say it again, this team sucks. Start Frank please

Knicks are back in action again on Wednesday when they take on the Wizards from the Garden. Why not make it eight straight?