The last time the Knicks beat Kristaps Porzingis and Mavericks, the aftermath was ugly.
Forty eight hours after their giddy Nov. 8 triumph in Dallas, the Knicks were hammered by the Cavaliers at the Garden.
It was a result so ghastly, owner James Dolan poured gasoline onto a brushfire by having president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry stage a postgame press conference that put Knicks coach David Fizdale on alert.
So when the Knicks gathered in the locker room late Thursday to celebrate another triumph over Porzingis, this time at the Garden, Fizdale told his players to quickly erase the image of the 7-foot-3 Latvian from their minds and think about the Hornets.
“My message to the team postgame is you’ve got about 45 minutes to enjoy this one,’’ Fizdale said at Friday’s practice in Tarrytown. “And then you’ve got to move on to the next game. Whether it’s good or bad, I think we’ve got to get to that place where we really lock into the next team.’’
That would be the less-than-imposing Hornets (4-7), who visit the Garden Saturday night. Fizdale should have his Knicks (3-9) jacked so as to not spoil Dolan’s mood. The owner was as animated Thursday as he ever has been while watching Porzingis go 0-2 against his former team within a week.
The Knicks were routed by the moribund Cavaliers on Sunday — a genuinely shocking performance that baffled team management. Fizdale has attempted to come up with theories on how it happened.
He’s sticking to players feeling intense pressure to satisfy the rabid fan base that has been kicked around for the better part of 18 seasons.
“I don’t think it was complacency,’’ Fizdale said. “I really felt like this team is just trying to do so well for the city. Their intentions are right. They’re trying to carry the weight of the city on their shoulders. I just told them you can’t do that. I said it’s an impossible task. You’ve got to focus on who’s around you in the locker room and put forth effort for the people in the locker room and the city will appreciate that kind of effort.”
The Knicks’ seven new signees may feel the burden of proving their additions were good ones after the disappointment of free agency.
Fizdale referred to it as “all of that noise — the combination of free agency and who we got and playing in MSG, trying to redeem past years. It’s so much that they’re trying to put on their own shoulders. It’s unfair of them trying to do that. Even to the point I’m talking about after games, you don’t get to celebrate the next day.’’
Point guard Frank Ntilikina got the message.
“We made a great win here,’’ he said. “That’s the next level for our team is building on this win and the way we played tonight. I think we played great basketball. We have to think about how we played [Thursday] and just bring it and not take a step back on the next game.’’
RJ Barrett didn’t practice because of a quad contusion, but is expected to play.
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November 15, 2019 at 04:03PM
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