The New York Knicks' microscopic playoff hopes shrink further with each loss, and Friday's 105-102 defeat in Philadelphia had added sting. Numerous missed opportunities - including three bricked shots in the final minute - sealed New York's fate after blowing what was once a double-digit lead.
Afterward, Carmelo Anthony seemed to take issue with the Knicks' lack of in-game coaching adjustments.
"We play the same way throughout the course of the game," Anthony said, according to the Daily News' Stefan Bondy. "And when teams make adjustments we're still playing the same way as teams make those adjustments defensively."
That could be a dig at the triangle, which coach Jeff Hornacek recently switched back to; whatever it was, the ultimate result was a general lack of execution. The Knicks came up empty on nine straight possessions in the third quarter as the 76ers went on a 12-0 run.
Of the big fourth-quarter misses, none was more galling than Derrick Rose's flubbed layup with the Knicks up one with 47 seconds left in the game.
As a result, Rose blamed himself for the loss.
"I missed a wide open layup. That's why we lost," said Rose, who also missed two late free throws. "I put this game on myself. I just missed a layup."
Anthony then missed a jumper from the left elbow with the Knicks down one, and Courtney Lee came up short on a 3-pointer as time expired.
The Knicks are 9-20 since 2017 dawned and have the league's seventh-worst net rating in that time.
"Unfortunately, I think I keep bringing it up (that we haven't won two in a row for over two months)," Hornacek said after the loss. "So maybe I won't bring it up anymore. But that's something that's out there that we got to try to break through and kind of get over that hump someday."
