Two 10-game losing streaks in the span of six weeks. A record of 5-30. So you say to yourself, "Well, at least it can't get any worse for the Knicks."
Sure it can. There are additional suggestions of shutting down Carmelo Anthony for an extended period.
At some point, they may even look to pull the plug on Anthony's season, although it is not at that position — yet.
The Knicks on Friday put out a starting lineup of Jose Calderon, Pablo Prigioni, J.R. Smith, Jason Smith and Cole Aldrich, their 18th different starting alignment this season. No Anthony (left knee). No Amar'e Stoudemire (right knee). No Samuel Dalembert (right ankle). No Tim Hardaway Jr. (concussion). No Iman Shumpert (left shoulder).
Then — no joke — after he played 1:47 of his second game of the season, no Andrea Bargnani (right calf). With six men infirm, it became, "Nine men, one catastrophe."
And two 10-game losing streaks. The woefully shorthanded Knicks lost for the 20th time in 21 games as the Pistons, they of the haughty 9-23 record, battered their way to a 97-81 victory at the Garden, where the boos started early.
The Knicks Season to Fold, Staple, Mutilate and Burn continued as Detroit forged a 33-18 second quarter. And that was before the Knicks missed their first 11 shots in the third quarter, when Brandon Jennings scored 16 of his 29 points for the Pistons. The Knicks were in their usual catch-up mode and because someone had to, J.R. Smith led them in scoring with 22 points.
The biggest focus always settles on Anthony, who has battled a troublesome knee all season. Friday's game was only the third he has missed because of the knee (he sat two other games with back spasms).
Coach Derek Fisher said the team would "huddle" up with Anthony to discuss when — or even if — he would return.
"Everybody involved is reasonable enough and smart enough as people in this business to come together on that if that time comes," Fisher said before the game. "Everybody's smart enough to realize, calendar-wise, timing-wise, that there may come a point that's the decision that needs to be made, but that we can't force Carmelo to that point just yet."
The Knicks play Sunday, then hit the road for two games, all part of a rough five-games-in-seven-days stretch that began with Detroit. The understanding has been that it will be Anthony's call.
"There's a balance between a player and his health and the part that he plays in the decision-making process and then where we are a team and giving our thoughts and our opinion to it. We can't unilaterally just say 'Hey, you know, you can't play for the rest of the season because of A, B and C,' " Fisher said. "As each day kind of unfolds, decisions are being made. It's not something that we're just stepping back and saying, 'Carmelo, you kind of tell us when you don't feel like playing anymore.' "
Fisher noted the "intense" week schedule-wise.
"We'll … kind of make some decisions from there, but like we talked about, there definitely will come a time at some point where there will have to be a conversation about a longer space for him possibly, but it's not there at this point," Fisher said.
Not yet.
Players have spoken about staying positive, which amid this nightmare is asking for service above and beyond.
"It's crazy," Calderon said.
"I've never seen anything like this anywhere," said rookie Cleanthony Early (right knee surgery), who suited up for the first time since Nov. 14.
As for Stoudemire, he sat a fourth straight game after a bad reaction to the long flight home from the West Coast. Fisher said "inflammation … happens on flights in particular when you have something going on already."
Dalembert sat his third straight game, Shumpert his 10th. Hardaway sat after being injured New Year's Eve. Then Bargnani went out.
Detroit coach/president Stan Van Gundy had cautioned an Anthony-less team made the Knicks dangerous. Honest, he said so with a straight face.
"Scares the hell out of me quite honestly," Van Gundy said. "These guys watch Carmelo take the most shots by far every single night and now it's their chance to play. It's an energized team."
His fear was unfounded.
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