The Knicks’ December record now stands at 4-1 after last night’s 93-84 win over the Trail Blazers at Madison Square Garden. More importantly, three of those wins have come against likely playoff teams: Portland, Phoenix and Atlanta.
Suddenly the idea that New York could squeak into a low playoff seed doesn’t seem that ridiculous. Maybe that’s why Knick coach Mike D’Antoni has been running a playoff-style rotation.
The Knicks’ run of strong play coincides with D’Antoni’s decision to shorten his rotation to seven-and-a-half players: a starting five of Al Harrington, Jared Jeffries and David Lee in the frontcourt and Chris Duhon and Wilson Chandler in the backcourt with Danilo Gallinari and Larry Hughes logging 30-plus minutes off the bench and rookie Toney Douglas making occasional cameos.
That's it. Nate Robinson — a 17.2-ppg scorer last season — has been relegated to towel-waving duty, as have Eddy Curry, Darko Milicic and Jordan Hill.
via NBA.com - D’Antoni Giveth, and he Taketh Away.
