Knicks, Magic looking toward future (Mar 01, 2017)
Carmelo Anthony threw his headband on the floor at Madison Square Garden after missing a wide-open 3-pointer at the buzzer of Monday's 92-91 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
The All-Star forward had just seen DeMar DeRozan beat Derrick Rose with a pull-up jumper despite strong defense to give the Raptors the late lead with one second left. Anthony somehow got free at the top of the key for a wide-open look to win the game and missed.
"I wasn't expecting to be open like that, it happened, I missed it," Anthony told Marc Berman of the New York Post. "I caught it and looked and didn't see anybody right there. I was surprised to be that open. It was a wide-open shot. I made one the other day. I should've made that shot."
The frustration of a difficult season for Anthony and the New York Knicks seemed to boil over. New York had a 17-point lead in the first half only to see the Raptors storm back on their home floor.
New York is now 24-36. The team's playoff aspirations are nearly extinguished. The focus seems to be shifting toward younger players, with New York cutting veteran point guard Brandon Jennings earlier this week.
The Knicks are promising they are not trying to lose and get better draft position. Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek protested such suggestions before Monday's game.
But it is clear New York is beginning to experiment more and plan for a future that may reincorporate the triangle offense the team's president, Phil Jackson, made famous with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.
The frustration for the franchise and its star player seems to continue as the team let a golden opportunity to win slip away again.
Their opponent Wednesday, the Orlando Magic, is in the same boat. The Magic, too, have struggled despite playoff aspirations. They are 22-38 entering the game and made a seismic shift, cashing in Serge Ibaka to avoid losing him in free agency this summer.
Orlando has played more energetic basketball since the All-Star break, winning running away 105-86 against the Atlanta Hawks in the team's last game Saturday.
The Magic have put together performances like that before. But they find themselves so far out of the playoff picture largely because they have failed to play consistently. Orlando has not won consecutive games since Dec. 26.
"It has been a while since we had a second straight win," Magic center Bismack Biyombo said after practice Tuesday. "I'm sure it will be a good feeling to have a second straight win. New York has faced some ups and downs like we have. We have to find a way to establish ourselves at the beginning of the game and see if we can sustain that throughout the game."
For Orlando, sustaining that throughout the game would make for a strong step forward for the team. Like New York, Orlando is trying to figure out what it can build from for next year.
Despite both teams' playoff absences in recent years, they both seem determined to make a postseason push again in 2018 -- with the added benefit of the high draft picks they are sure to net in June.
And they both seemed determined to lay that foundation the rest of this season.
