Anthony on Knicks' play: 'It's like we don't want to be out there'
The New York Knicks are a mess.
Carmelo Anthony tried to lift them out of their funk Sunday, playing through a bad back - which forced him to miss two games - to drop 31 points, but the Knicks fell 86-79 to the Miami Heat. It marked the second consecutive game the Knicks have scored fewer than 80 points.
In those two games - both losses - the Knicks have shot an abysmal 5-of-43 from long range. They have lost four straight games and are 2-13 since winning two of their first three games of the season.
It has been an ugly start to the season and it appears to only be getting worse.
The #Knicks (4-14) are tied for the 2nd worst start in team history. The 3 other teams to start 4-14 won, on average, 24 games that season.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) December 1, 2014
Amar'e Stoudemire crushed the Knicks over the weekend, and head coach Derek Fisher questioned his team's desire to win after scoring a season-low 78 points in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.
The Knicks had their effort called into question again Sunday - this time it was Anthony's turn.
"Sometimes we go out there and it’s like we don’t want to be out there," Anthony said after Sunday's loss, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. "We’re not giving effort like we’re supposed to. As leader of the team, (Stoudemire) had the right to step up to the plate."
Anthony re-upped with the Knicks on a max five-year deal in the offseason after the team went 37-45, just one season removed from a 54-win campaign. What happened last year is happening all over again.
"I’m going through it, but I can’t put that in my head right now,’" Anthony said. "It’s not a great feeling, not a good feeling. As far as losing and getting used to losing, that’s not something I’m accustomed to."
Anthony is averaging a team-high 23.7 points per game on 47.4 percent shooting from the field - his best mark since the 2007-08 season. But it clearly hasn't been enough for the Knicks, who are playing in a new offensive system under first-year coach Fisher, and averaging the fourth fewest points in the NBA at 93.4 a game.
The Eastern Conference is so miserable, though, that the Knicks are only 3.5 games out of the final playoff spot despite playing at a .222 clip.