Before the game began Sunday night Knicks coach David Fizdale spoke optimistically of the team building off a hard-fought, emotional win in Dallas two nights earlier. And it seemed like a good night to claim that, back home to face a below-. 500 Cavs squad.
But almost from the opening tip the Knicks displayed little of the fire and almost none of the shooting. Down 14 in the first quarter, 18 at halftime and as many as 30 in the second half, the Knicks returned to Madison Square Garden with a lifeless, ugly performance in falling, 108-87, to the Cavaliers.