This will make it a dirty dozen games for the Knicks and it is more than having trust in one another, something that wasn’t present last season.
Sure, they are showing trust, but do they have the talent?
With Tuesday night’s matchup against Charlotte at the Garden, Derek Fisher’s team will be 12 games into the season. Roles at the end of the game have yet to be clearly defined.
Fisher still hasn’t found a solid end-of-game rotation for his 5-6 Knicks.
“Probably more than ever in our game in terms of the NBA in general, it’s more of a need basis at this point,’’ Fisher said after Monday’s practice session.
“Lineups are so unique. Teams are playing sometimes five or four of their smaller guys instead of a traditional big man on the court. You might have to substitute thinking offense and defense from possession to possession, but overall down the stretch it’s continuing to develop trust, which allows for composure and poise, which helps with decision-making and shot selection.
“All of those things will be more beneficial for us the more experience we get together.
“The defense should always be strong, no matter who is out there,’’ he said.
Fisher said he wants to see the offense not be overly weighted in Carmelo Anthony’s direction in those final minutes and with so many close games already, he joked his beard is greying much too early.
“It’s better to have a closer than not,’’ Fisher said. “And I think Melo can be a great closer for us, but there has to be a balance to our offense that allows for full respect of all five guys on the court by the opponent.
“If a second or third defender shows up, what are your options and we want to be a team that has options down the stretch.’’
With the personnel changes the Knicks have made over the last year, Fisher said he believes these Knicks are more committed to each other than last year’s team.
As one of Phil Jackson’s associates said, Jackson got rid of all the bad apples. Now it’s a matter of waiting to see if this group can play.
Asked about the makeup of these players and if they are advanced over last year’s team, Fisher said: “I think it feels that way. There are a lot of new guys that haven’t necessarily played together before but it feels like, at least from being around them, that they do have a high degree of respect for each other.
“They value each other’s voices and opinions and individual games that guys are capable of doing. It’s not easy to be on a team where 13 guys really could play every night and everybody somewhat be okay with that, but it does seem like they’re enjoying working together. That’s why we’ve had the chance to win some games even though we are not necessarily playing the greatest basketball. The fact that they kind of trust each other is allowing us to hang in there a lot of nights.’’
The Knicks are showing signs of being better down the stretch, but the players know big improvements must be made.
“We need work on finishing the games well,’’ said rookie Kristaps Porzingis. “We were not doing that, we were playing good for three quarters and then the last quarter we were struggling and were not executing under pressure, I think we did a better job [Sunday] and that’s why we got the win.
“We let Carmelo do all the stuff, he makes everything easier for us,’’ Porzingis said. “When it is moments when all eyes are on him and he’s under pressure he needs us to be able to make plays, too. That fourth quarter everybody has to be ready and execute under pressure.’’
Porzingis is working on his post game as well, saying, “I want to play more in the post, I’ve been working on some moves.’’
Forward Lance Thomas put it best, saying: “This group knows we need each other to win.’’
The challenge is to finish together and finish strong.