MINNEAPOLIS – At least the Heat are struggling too.
Naturally, Mike D’Antoni would love to have LeCon James on his side, but understands the chemistry issues the 5-4 Heat are going through. Miami got beat up for a second time by Boston last night in South Beach after which Paul Pierce surely ticked off LeCon with a sarcastic tweet that even amused the Knicks coach for its gutsiness.
“It’s going to take them a while to get it,” D’Antoni said. “The expectations are so high, that if they have a bad quarter everybody is going to go, “oooh.” In time they’ll be a very good team but it’s going to take them time. You don’t get to be Boston overnight. They got to play together forever. It’s managing expectations. Somehow you have to find a way.”
The Knicks should be lucky they didn’t get Chris Bosh over Amar’e Stoudemire. Bosh looks like a deer in headlights, smothered by the spotlight.
Stoudemire seems to detest any talk of the Heat after the trio all spurned the Knicks and a chance to join him in New York.
“I don’t care about Miami,” Stoudemire said at the morning shootaround at Target Center.
Stoudemire still dreams of one day of uniting with Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul and forming their own star trio. Anthony finally confirmed the famous champagne toast made by Paul at Anthony’s July Manhattan wedding to La La Vasquez that was reported by The Post.
Paul toasted to a future reuniting of the trio, with Anthony acknowledging yesterday a lot of joking was going on about it, but adding “it was not staged.”
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Ronny Turiaf (sprained knee) is out tonight vs. Wolves and probably will miss Sunday vs. Houston. Turiaf may be available next for the start of their West Coast trip in Denver Tuesday in the Carmelo Anthony Game. The Warriors feasted inside with 72 points in the paint and center Timofey Mozgov played just three minutes and picked up three fouls. D’Antoni admitted Mozgov has taken “a couple of steps back.”… D’Antoni acknowledged the regret he has when he watching Golden State’s Stephen Curry play against the Knicks. Curry had a gorgeous game Wednesday. Curry was selected seventh, one spot ahead of the Knicks, who tabbed Jordan Hill and traded him to Houston for cap space.
“We haven’t said that a few times? We were that close,” D’Antoni said.
