Isiah Thomas said on Tuesday he would “fight ’til I die” in attempting to turn around this Knick mess.
It is too late. His Knicks are already dead.
Emotionally, physically, spiritually, statistically.
Ex-Knick Kurt Thomas and rookie sensation Kevin Durant got louder cheers than any Knick starter during player introductions. How sad is that?
About as sad as last night’s deathly result. The SuperSonic duo proved way more clutch down the stretch than the deceased Knicks in Seattle’s 117-110 victory before a fraudulently announced sell-out crowd.
At this point, the Knicks couldn’t beat Seattle’s Rainier Beach – alma mater of Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson – let alone the Sonics (6-17), playing their second of a back-to-back after losing to Chicago by 27 points. The Knicks play in Chicago tomorrow in what could be a bloodier slaying than an Al Capone job.
The Knicks – who fell to 6-15, a season-worst nine games under .500 – are now tied with Miami for the East’s worst record.
Durant pumped in 30 points, capping it with an emphatic driving tomahawk dunk with 56.6 seconds left. Thomas, the former Knick enforcer, scored five key points in the final two minutes to send his former club to its fourth straight loss and ignite a whole new chorus of loud “Fire Isiah” chants.
During his wild Tuesday speech, Thomas said, “To me it’s win or die. And I literally mean death.”
His players apparently don’t have the same stance. They’ve either quit on the season or just don’t know how to win.
“The gritty plays, the nasty plays that you needed, the fight, the heart that you need, the will you need to have on the floor to win a game, that thirst wasn’t there,” Thomas said.
The Knicks wore the 1973 jerseys from their last championship season, and donned 1972-73 T-shirts in the locker room before the game. They are so far away from that era, it’s too depressing to contemplate.
The players don’t want to contemplate it either. After David Lee spoke to the press in a hallway, nobody except Crawford was left in the locker room when the media arrived.
“We can’t let it get to an eight- game slide,” he said.
The fans did not do their usual anti- Thomas chanting until the final minutes, when it was clear the Knicks were done, and the place turned ven omous.
The Son ics, at least, have younger players, with Durant and impressive rookie Jeff Green, who finished with 17 points. With 5:12 left and the Sonics up one, Green had a momentum- turning block of Crawford (29 points) on a fastbreak dunk.
Green scored inside for a 100-97 lead. Durant then scorched a 3-pointer from the left wing to make it 103-97 with 4:02 left.
Though the Garden was half-full during introductions, Thomas was booed as loudly as at any time this season.
Embattled Eddy Curry, who appears close to being yanked from the starting lineup, was booed during introductions, and is now being booed when he checks into and leaves games.
He scored two of his 12 points in the second half, was benched for a chunk of the fourth, missed too many easy shots and did nothing on defense. Thomas did not rule out lineup changes vs. Chicago.
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Grieving Stephon Marbury missed his second straight game and will be out tomorrow in Chicago and likely Saturday vs. Nets.
Sonics 117 Knicks 110