Teams talk of winning now when building for the future, but for the Knicks, “now” may mean the rest of November and most of December.
Beyond that is a potentially brutal landscape.
From Dec. 27 to Feb. 2, the Knicks play 20 games, and only four of those are at home. They have an absurd January with 12 of 16 games on foreign floors. They end December with a three-game trip — visiting the hapless Bulls, powerful Spurs and dangerous Pelicans. They open February in Milwaukee.
And playing at home doesn’t guarantee anything.
“Any time a team comes to Madison Square Garden, they want to show up and do their best,” Hardaway said, noting the Jazz did that before the Knicks’ rally.