|
NEW YORK -- His Knicks team has the worst record in the Eastern Conference, an unimaginable 28 games below .500. And they needed to win three straight games just to get to that mark. So no, this probably isn’t the way Carmelo Anthony expected to spend the one-year anniversary of one of the best games of his career. Twelve months ago to the day, Carmelo scored a franchise-record 62 points in a win over the then-Charlotte Bobcats. “It’s been a year. I can’t believe it’s been a year already since that time,” Anthony said late Friday night. Not much has gone as planned for Anthony or the Knicks since that date. They missed the playoffs last season for the first time since trading for Anthony. This year, after re-signing him to a five-year, $124 million contract, the Knicks have been a colossal disappointment. They’ve endured losing streaks of 10 and 16 games and are on pace to win just 15 games -- which would be a franchise low. And Anthony has played through soreness in his left knee for most of the season. He thinks he’ll eventually need surgery to repair the injury. So it’s understandable that the 62-point anniversary wasn’t the first thing on his mind late Friday night. “I could give a damn about 62 right now. But four, the number four does sound good,” Anthony said after the Knicks’ win over Orlando. Four is a reference to the four-game winning streak the Knicks would put together with a victory over Charlotte on Saturday night. That would be a season high. “It’s been a good feeling these last couple of days,” Anthony said. Good feelings, of course, have been in short supply for the Knicks. There are several factors behind New York's struggles this year. One issue seems to be a lack of easy baskets in the triangle offense. A league-high 26.3 percent of the Knicks' points come from mid-range field goals, according to ESPN Stats & Information’s Steve Martinez. For comparison's sake, New York was tied for 18th in that category when it made the playoffs in 2012-13 (17.6 percent). Offense, obviously, isn’t the only issue for the Knicks this season. They have the second-worst defensive rating in the NBA and they rank 26th in rebounding rate.
Now, with the team out of contention, fans have begun to turn their attention to the draft lottery. This is where the team's poor record will be a benefit. ESPN’s Basketball Power Index gives the Knicks a 91.3 percent chance at landing a top-five pick, something they haven’t had since 1986. New York also hopes to be active in free agency this summer. With just four players under contract for 2015-16, the club is projected to have nearly $30 million in cap space in the offseason. But that’s a little more than five months away. In between now and then, there probably won’t be much to celebrate. On Saturday, at least Anthony can reminisce about 62.
|
