Knicks Seek Identity as the Clock Ticks

After Monday's loss to the Boston Celtics, the Knicks' third in a row and perhaps the most stinging since they acquired Carmelo Anthony last month, their new superstar sat on the bench, blood in his eyes from a collision with Rajon Rondo earlier in the game.

He looked dejected, but like nearly all the Knicks, he said he wasn't thinking about the devastating loss but rather about how this team can right the wrongs that have plagued it during its 7-9 start with Anthony in the lineup.

As new point guard Chauncey Billups said Sunday after a loss in Milwaukee, each game is more about the Knicks and how they are playing than any opponent.

Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni acknowledged this week that these final 12 games, beginning with Wednesday night's game against the Orlando Magic at the Garden, are essentially "open practices," where 18,000 fans watch the Knicks try to find an identity. The hope is that they'll find one before the end of the regular season on April 13.

"We have a little bit under a month to get this thing right and right now we're just figuring this out on the go," Anthony said.

D'Antoni has attributed the Knicks' lack of chemistry to a number of things. Aside from the schedule, he said that many of the same issues that plagued the Knicks when they started the season 3-8—such as inadequate offensive spacing and faulty decision-making—have resurfaced with little time to address them.

"When we looked at 18 games in March, we looked at no practice time at all,'' D'Antoni said. "We looked at what's left, basically three rookies, an eight- man rotation and three new guys, and you start to pull your hair out."

Anthony admitted over the weekend that the chemistry issues may not be solved until next season. He said that when the trade was made, he had no expectations about when the team would jell, only that "it's a long process."

The process, for now, seems like it will have to focus on the offense, where there are signs of an identity crisis.

According to the website Hoopdata, in the last four games, the Knicks haven't had more than 92 possessions. That's a stunning departure from the fast-paced offense that produced as few as 92 possessions just four times in the first 54 games of the season.

D'Antoni has said he's fine with whatever pace Billups wants to run, but D'Antoni has expressed concerns over the offense's performance late in games. In the loss against Boston, the Celtics scored the game's last 10 points.

"We're still trying to get a grip on us," star forward Amar'e Stoudemire. "We know we can be a really good team. It's just a matter of us staying together, for one, and two, to figure out how to win."