NEW YORK _ The Knicks took another beating Thursday night, never really in the game from start to finish as the Raptors easily coasted to a 117-92 win at Madison Square Garden.
It was a repeat of last week's game in Toronto with the Knicks falling behind by as many as 31 as the Raptors again decided to rest Kawhi Leonard rather than waste him on a night they would not need him.
There were a few highlights for the home fans as Mitchell Robinson (career highs of 19 points and 21 rebounds) threw down a handful of dunks. Jeremy Lin scored 12 for the Raptors, bringing back fond memories of Linsanity for the crowd. And there was the cold reality of Kevin Knox shooting just 3-for-10 (nine points) and the reality that he wasn't the worst offensive weapon for the Knicks on this night.
It was another painful lesson for the young Knicks, but one that coach David Fizdale believes will someday pay off, the memory of the season that has descended to 14-61 now someday forgotten.
"All the time," Fizdale said when asked if he uses the experience of other teams who have gone through it as examples for his team as they endure the hard times. "And I use my own experiences, what I've gone through and what I've seen. A year before I got to Miami as an assistant (Dwyane) Wade's shoulder got torn up and they won I think nine or 12, I don't know what it was, a low number (15) They took a lot of lumps. We ended up with the No. 2 pick the next year, but we were back in the playoffs the next year with one healthy guy.
"I use Atlanta, we won 13. And understanding that that was just the beginning and four years later we were playing (Miami) in the playoffs, pushing them to a seven-game series. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel for these guys. They've just got to take their lumps, learn from them, and as we get better and grow and add guys to this team it's just going to make them better players."
The Knicks can see it almost nightly, teams that are beating them down and Fizdale can detail the path those teams took to get where they are now. He spoke before Thursday night's game about the Nets, who were down the road in Philadelphia trying to hang on to a playoff berth through an arduous late season schedule.
"You've got to respect it. They really grinded it out," Fizdale said. "They started from where we're at basically. Over the course of time _ what is it, four years that (Nets coach Kenny Atkinson has) been there? _ they've really instilled who they're going to be. They've built their team through player development, through some drafts, some trades, things like that. What they've done with their guards from a development standpoint is fantastic. I think (D'Angelo) Russell and (Spencer) Dinwiddie are both improved players under that system. So what it does is it gives me hope that what we're doing, there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
"It's just a matter of us getting to that place. I can't tell you exactly when or where, when it's going to happen for us but it's coming soon and once we get that team here that people have to really be concerned about the way we guard and the way we come at you offensively, that will turn. But overall I still think our fans have been fantastic for us. They've rooted for us all year despite the record. These folks have been behind us and I really appreciate that and these young guys appreciate that, but you get guys, you're going to get the superstars coming in here and there's a group of fans that are going to root for those guys because of who they are."
