Lenny Wilkens had better coach to win tonight. He had better play Stephon Marbury more as he promised. He had better hope the Hornets stink again tonight in Washington like Bourbon Street does the morning after. Wilkens had better hope the Knicks get Detroit, not the Nets.
Tonight’s regular-season finale against the Cavaliers at the Garden is the most important game of the Knicks’ season and Wilkens should treat it that way. A Knicks victory and a New Orleans loss gives them a 40-42 record, the sixth seed and a first-round date in Motown, likely Sunday.
Knicks brass apparently feels the Nets are a better matchup than the Pistons in the first round. Wilkens has limited his starters’ minutes the past two games, keeping Marbury on the bench for the final three quarters in the Big Easy Monday and canceled yesterday’s practice. They’ve won their last two games because the bench has been spectacular, led by rookie Michael Sweetney, Moochie Norris and DerMarr Johnson.
It’s time for the Knicks to wake up and smell the Swamp. They should want no part of a Lincoln Tunnel Series, even with Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin hurting. They will be decided underdogs against either club, but at least the Pistons, despite their torrid stretch, don’t have the weapons to blow the Knicks off the court like the Nets do.
“All three teams at the top [Pistons, Nets, Indy] are tough,” Marbury said. “But the best part of the playoffs is everyone has an even record. It doesn’t matter what your record was in the regular season. Once you get in the playoffs, you’re going to establish yourself.”
The Nets established themselves 12 days ago when they slaughtered the Knicks by 25 points without Kidd and Martin. True, the defensively ferocious Pistons have become the trendy pick to come out of the East after the addition of Rasheed Wallace.
But the Pistons don’t have Kidd. They have point guard Chauncey Billups, who, despite an excellent season, also is beat up, missing the last two games with a sprained ankle. Billups had a balky ankle when the Pistons were swept by the Nets last spring, when Kidd murdered him.
There’s no question Marbury will surpass Kidd in a year or two. But it may be too much to ask for Marbury to win a matchup with Kidd now.
With all the talk from Isiah Thomas and Baron Davis about Marbury being on par with the Nets superstar, Kidd will be out for blood in this series. Because of television, the first round is spread out, with at least two days between games for Kidd’s knee to rest.
The Knicks have a better chance of eking out a defensive struggle against Detroit than a shootout with the Nets, especially with Allan Houston’s status highly questionable. The Knicks are not athletic enough to stop the Nets’ fastbreak and alley-oop dunks. As for the Pistons, they set a record of holding five straight teams under 70 points and are 18-5 with Rasheed Wallace.
“They have Rasheed’s intensity now and that’s how they play,” said Norris, the fourth-quarter hero in New Orleans. “They get up all over you. He fit right in.”
But the Knicks have a number of big men to mix it up in the interior, with Dikembe Mutombo back and at times looking dominant. Mutombo and Sweetney will be more effective grinding against Ben Wallace than getting back on defense against the high-flying Nets.
“We have capable people in the frontcourt between myself, Sweet, Dikembe and Nazr [Mohammed] to play the 4-5 position,” Vin Baker said. “We’re bringing a lot to the table there as a team.”
