The Knicks are a .500 ballclub on a three-game winning streak after a fairly difficult schedule. That’s not the record that will get you a top-3 lottery pick or even a seat at the lottery dais in Manhattan in May.
But the new management team of Steve Mills and Scott Perry – as much as they would love another lottery pick to add to the young core – will take it. They will take this 3-3 record, especially since the winning is derived from progress from their defense and young group. Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., now-healthy rookie Frank Ntilikina and their acquisition from the Carmelo Anthony trade, 25-year-old center Enes Kanter are excelling.
After four straight non-playoff seasons and the tiresome Anthony soap opera, the franchise, in many respects, can use a competitive team fighting for a playoff berth and learning how to win.
Mills alluded to the importance of changing the franchise’s perception as laughable losers around the city and NBA in two separate comments he made Sunday in Cleveland.
“I’m from New York,’’ said Mills, who grew up on Long Island. “I’m a proud guy, competitive guy. We don’t want people thinking about our franchise that way. Our goal is turning this into a first-class organization. We hired really good people to gain trust of fans and the basketball community.’’
However, it’s a conundrum for “Trust The Process” soldiers on whether landing the eighth seed in the 2018 playoffs — they are tied for eighth now — is better than having a top-three seed in the 2018 lottery. I have a friend who traveled all the way to Cleveland to watch his favorite team, the Knicks, but seemed upset after the stunner, concerned about their lottery position.
Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek has the unsettling task of trying to win while developing youngsters. In the first half, there was no logical reason to trot out rusty rookie second-round shooting guard Damyean Dotson for six minutes of the second period and not play veteran Lance Thomas, who excelled Sunday in embarrassing the Cavaliers. Thomas was a DNP vs. Denver and had no idea why. Nor would Hornacek explain.
However, that the Knicks held on to beat Denver, 116-110, Monday after blowing all of a 23-point lead in a horrifying third-quarter meltdown marked growth.
They also nearly blew a big lead in Cleveland, but recovered. Do they do that with Anthony as their leader? Last week, in the home opener, the Knicks coughed up a 21-point lead to Detroit in an embarrassing loss.
“It gives them a sense of confidence now,’’ Mills said. “We were up 21 in the Detroit game. It wasn’t a fluke. They have to find ways to hold onto a lead like that.”
When Porzingis picked up his fifth foul against Denver — a phantom offensive foul with less than six minutes left — Hornacek kept him in the game. It worked, as Porzingis carried the Knicks to a win without another incident. Ousted president Phil Jackson worried about Porzingis’ penchant for bad fouls, and the Latvian got tagged a lot during the European Championships and complained a lot about it.
“That will be part of the learning process,’’ Hornacek said. “When you get in foul trouble, how to still stay in the game. I had a debate there. Should I give him a minute or two? He’s learned it’s part of it to not foul, to just challenge. I’m pleasantly surprised — not surprised — but he had a lot of silly fouls last year. I don’t know in six games if he had one silly foul.’’
Sounds simple, but Hornacek said one reason for the Knicks’ turnaround from an 0-3 start is they’ve become a more dangerous 3-point shooting team.
The Knicks shot 24 percent in their first three games and 40 percent in the last three. And they are taking more, too, attempting 66 3s in the three losses and 87 in the three wins.
“We’re shooting the ball better from the 3-point line, guys are getting more familiar with the plays, not thinking and just running through them and making reads, setting good screens,” Hornacek said.
Left unsaid is their new undefeated starting point guard Jarrett Jack also has the offense more settled than demoted Ramon Sessions, who sometimes dribbled too much without purpose.