Derek Fisher (Photo : Al Bello | Getty Images Sport)
The New York Knicks set a franchise record that was nothing to be proud of as they lost to the Chicago Bulls.
The Knicks only scored eight points in the entire fourth quarter, the least points in a quarter in Knicks history. This allowed the Bulls to blow them out from only a four point deficit in the third. From a close 77-73, the Bulls poured 31 points with a 108-81 rout.
It was embarrassing, and Coach Derek Fisher called his team out, who observers note looked "distracted." The NY Post caught Fisher's comments.
"We don't want to be front-runners - guys who can play hard when things are going well,'' Fisher said. "We don't want to be a team when it starts to rain a little bit, we give in. I thought we gave in a little bit there in the fourth quarter."
He continued: "We had shots that didn't go in in the fourth quarter, and I thought we got discouraged and the energy turned around the other way and it snowballed from there. There should've been enough left in the tank.''
Speaking of having enough left in the tank, the race is much tighter in the Eastern Conference and with the Knicks record continuing to drop, NBC reminds that the Big Apple team should play with more urgency.
"This is a team with playoff aspirations that is now four games out of the final playoff spot in the East and has a couple of decent teams to pass (Detroit, Charlotte) if they are going to make it," declared NBC's Kurt Helin.
Helin also suggested that the team should probably make more changes as they have a better grasp of the players that they could keep. But the roster is far from a lock.
"For all the hope Kristaps Porzingis provides for the future, there are still a lot of questions about this roster that need to be answered. And dealt with."
