New York enters with 17 straight home losses since an overtime win against Milwaukee on Dec. 1. It is the third-longest home losing streak in NBA history behind only Philadelphia's 18-game skid from Jan. 17-March 21, 2014 and Dallas' 19-game skid from Nov. 6, 1993-Jan. 21, 1994.
The Knicks will be attempting to win consecutive games for just the second time this season. New York headed into the break by halting its team-record 18-game losing streak with a 106-91 win at Atlanta on Feb. 14.
"I keep talking about this team's character," New York coach David Fizdale said. "It would've been very easy for us to check out and get on to wherever we're going to go, but we were desperate men. Those guys wanted this game really badly, and they came out and showed it."
Dennis Smith Jr. scored 18 points, while Kadeem Allen and John Jenkins added 14 points apiece. Smith and Allen weren't on the Knicks when they last won a home game, and each figures to see significant playing time the rest of the season.
Another player the Knicks will be incorporating into their rotation is Emmanuel Mudiay, who is expected to return from missing nearly a month with a left shoulder injury. Mudiay started 32 straight games before getting hurt Jan. 23 against Houston and is averaging a career-high 14.7 points while shooting 45.3 percent.
"Same way I was doing it with Kadeem and Dennis, mixing and matching different guys, and that's the way I'll probably get to a place with them," Fizdale told reporters Wednesday following the team's first practice out of the All-Star break. "It's been kind of that way all year with different positions and different situations so we'll figure it out." >> Read More
Copyright 2019 by the Associated Press
