New York Knicks put their five-game winning streak in perspective
Normally, a five-game winning streak this early in the season shouldn’t mean all that much to an NBA squad. But when you’re the New York Knicks, a team who hasn’t made the play-offs in
the last six seasons, it becomes a little more noteworthy.
With their most recent win coming against the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday 24 November, the Knicks (8-8) have now won five-straight for the first time since January 2006. The Knicks,
who haven’t won more than 33 games the past six seasons, have been chronic underachievers for one of the most passionate fan bases in the league.
New York coach Mike D’Antoni told reporters he had a message for his team after they moved to .500 on the season after opening 3-8. "I told them we have good news and bad news. The good
news is we have a five-game winning streak. The bad news is we're .500. Let's be real."
The Knicks haven’t had a winning season since the 2001-02 season and this team, who added Amar’e Stoudemire and Raymond Felton over the summer, knows it is still very early in the season.
Stoudemire said they're still looking to improve. "Winning five straight feels great. But being here at .500 is something we have to improve on. We're still getting better. That's the greatest thing about the game. It's about getting better and improving."
With Stoudemire and Felton being the main contributors to the Knicks’ solid start, Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler are averaging 16.1 points apiece so far this season.
"The difference [from last season] is everybody cares," said Chandler. "Losing for so long, it was like the norm. This year everybody wants to win."
Felton said their recent success can be attributed to contributions made by the entire team. "I'm not going to sit here and single me and Amar'e out as the reason we're winning. Gallo's been
great, Will's been great, Landry (Fields) and Ronny's been great. Me and Amar'e have been playing great but so many other guys are contributing. You can't win with just two guys."
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