NBA teams
Ian Begley, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Phil Jackson pans Knicks on Twitter

NBA, New York Knicks

NEW YORK -- New York Knicks president Phil Jackson took to Twitter on Sunday night to criticize his team's effort hours after a blowout 101-83 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Knicks lost by 18 points to the Cavs on Sunday to extend their losing streak to seven games. New York is an NBA-worst 10-45.

Sunday's loss to Cleveland might have hit Jackson a little harder than others.

J.R. Smith -- a former Knick whom Jackson traded away in a salary dump last month -- torched the Knicks for 17 points and four assists in the blowout. Smith hooked up with Iman Shumpert -- a fourth-year guard Jackson sent to Cleveland in the same trade -- for an eye-popping alley-oop in the fourth quarter that is sure to make all the highlight shows.

The Knicks, on the other hand, couldn't muster any highlights for their home crowd. They fell behind by 19 points in the first quarter and shot just 37 percent from the floor overall, including 3-for-19 (16 percent) from beyond the arc.

New York is well on its way to establishing the worst record in franchise history. (The previous mark is 21 wins.)

It's been a nightmare season for Jackson, who said at the beginning of the season that he believed the Knicks were a playoff team.

But Jackson's personnel moves -- trading Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks for a package highlighted by veteran point guard Jose Calderon and drafting forward Cleanthony Early -- haven't translated to wins this season.

In early January, Jackson offered a mea culpa to Knicks fans for the team's poor performance.

Earlier this month, Jackson took things a step further, telling The New York Times that his "experiment has fallen flat on its face."

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