Bury Brooklyn.
Then go on a roll against a softer schedule. It’s December Go Time for the Knicks over the next eight games.
If the 9-10 Knicks are to make serious progress this season, this must be a successful stint. No more pretending that success is just around the corner. Post some Ws.
The 5-13 Nets come to the Garden on Friday night. The 1-19 Sixers just left.
Yes, this really is Rivalry Weak.
That 99-87 win over the Sixers kicked off a nine-game stretch in which the Knicks play only one team that owns a better than .500 record, the 11-8 Mavericks at the Garden come Monday.
They are in Milwaukee (7-12) on Saturday. Sure, there is a West Coast jaunt with Utah (8-8) and a couple of 7-12 teams in Sacramento and Portland. Then the Knicks are back home against (8-10) Minnesota.
The soft stint concludes with a visit to Philadelphia on Dec. 18.
The Knicks believe they are a much better team than they were at the start of the season. Now it’s time to show it.
“It’s a great opportunity for us because I think we are getting better,’’ Derek Fisher said after Thursday’s practice. “But you never know until you get out there and start competing. We have to prove it as much to ourselves as to anybody outside.’’
Prove it, indeed.
The Knicks were gifted the Sixers minus the suspended Jahlil Okafor on Wednesday night to snap a four-game losing streak.
That losing streak taught them a most valuable lesson, explained the NBA’s Eastern Conference rookie of the month Kristaps Porzingis, the youngest Knick, but one of the most level-headed Knicks.
“It’s huge,’’ Porzingis said. “We want to keep winning at home. We lost four games and are learning from our mistakes.’’
So, what has been learned?
“We won four games in a row, we beat the Rockets, OKC [on the road] and we’re thinking, ‘OK, we’re a good team.’ That’s the moment we really need to focus on what we are doing, get back to fundamentals, what took us there to that level.’’
As a result of that winning streak, Porzingis admitted the Knicks, “got a little comfortable. Then the [losses] happened and that is kind of a reality check for you.’’
Porzingis is certain of one thing.
“I know our fans are better than Brooklyn fans are,’’ he said with a smile. “It will be a good game.’’
A must-win for the Knicks for many reasons, including internal reasons for the team’s fragile psyche.
“We’re trying to grow and achieve some things,’’ Fisher said. “We have to believe that that’s what we are capable of doing sometime before you actually do it.’’
As for the Battle of New York, also known as the Battle of the Lopez twins and their cats, Fisher noted, the Nets are a “scrappy team.’’
“They weren’t even in New York until three years ago or something,’’ Fisher said of the Nets-Knicks rivalry.
When it was mentioned that the New Jersey Nets were right across the river, Fisher said, “It’s different.’’
The Nets tried to make a big Brooklyn splash, and they are under water now.
That’s even more reason for the Knicks to take care of business Friday night.
“We just really want to focus on getting better,’’ Robin Lopez said. “We think we can win every game we participate in, honestly. So it doesn’t really matter who we are playing.
“A lot of them, we’ve been right in there and in the fourth quarter we’ve had some breakdowns,’’ he added. “That’s the next step for us.’’
There you have it. The Knicks walk onto the court thinking they can win every night.
If they can’t beat the Nets, they have no room to talk.
“We’ve got to reward [the fans] in a matchup like this,’’ Lopez said.
This is a huge month for the Knicks in so many ways. They will tell you they’ve turned the corner. They will tell you expectations are much higher than in the recent terrible past.
If that is indeed the case, bury Brooklyn, then go on a roll.