GREENBURGH, N.Y. — With all the headlines about Amar’e Stoudemire and his battle with the fire extinguisher, it may be easy to forget that the Knicks are on the brink of NBA ignominy.
New York has lost 12 straight playoff games dating back to 2001 and with a loss Thursday in Game 3 against the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden, they would set a new NBA record with 13 straight postseason defeats.
“Sure, it’s an incentive,” Knicks interim coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday. “I’m not one for excuses, but this team hasn’t been together that long. Tyson [Chandler]’s first year in, short season, no camp. There are a lot of things that are at stake here. Expectations are high.”
The last time the Knicks won a playoff game was April 29, 2001 at Toronto.
George Bush was in his first term as President.
The starting lineup for that game?
Latrell Sprewell, Allan Houston, Kurt Thomas, Mark Jackson and Othella Harrington.
Glen Rice, Charlie Ward and Felton Spencer came off the bench.
The Knicks dropped the final two games of that series, losing 4-1.
It was another three years before they made the playoffs again and were swept by the Nets in 2004.
They had to wait another seven years before getting back to the postseason a year ago and were swept once again by the Boston Celtics during a series in which Stoudemire (back) and Chauncey Billups (knee) both suffered injuries.
Now they are down 0-2 to LeBron James and company and face the prospect of losing their 13th in a row on Thursday.
“I think we’ve all seen that, but I don’t think it’s our motivation really,” Steve Novak said.
Without Stoudemire, Iman Shumpert (knee) and Jeremy Lin (knee), the Knicks face the prospect of a third straight postseason sweep which would send the streak to 14 straight playoff losses.
“My thing is we have a legitimate shot,” Woodson said. “We still control our own destiny here. I know that’s dangling out there. But I’m not even thinking about that. I’m thinking about Game 3, trying to get a game under our belt and see if we can force the action.”
