There is frustration and then there is despair, and among the more seasoned souls in the Knicks' locker room, there is enough wisdom to know the difference. Maurice Taylor began his career with the Los Angeles Clippers and is therefore an authority on the subject.
In Taylor's rookie season, 1997-1998, the Clippers went 17-65. Then they won nine times in a lockout-shortened 50-game season. In his final year in Los Angeles, the Clippers won 15 games.
Three years into his NBA career, Taylor had won just enough games, 41, to qualify for a .500 season.
The Knicks (6-17) have lost six straight games and are on pace for a 21-victory season. But there is no sense yet that a culture of losing has set in, or that anyone has given up the vision of a .500 record. They are, in Taylor's opinion, far from veering into Clippers territory.
"That," Taylor said with a serious look, "was a whole different story." That was like 20 years of that. There's no comparison. None whatsoever."
That was "a doomed feeling," said Taylor, a feeling he said he did not sense among the Knicks. "No, I don't."
While the Clippers, the league's most cursed franchise, are having a surprising revival, the Knicks are careering toward a fifth consecutive losing season. They may not feel doomed, but they do not have much optimism, either.
Despite a drastic makeover, the Knicks are three defeats shy of matching last season's longest losing streak. They have three home games coming up: against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, the surging Utah Jazz on Friday and the rival Nets next Monday.
The Knicks then close out the calendar year with games in Orlando and in Milwaukee -- the teams that just beat them by 15 points (the Magic) and by 20 points (the Bucks).
When Taylor was with the Clippers, long losing streaks were the norm. The danger for the Knicks, with a roster filled with impressionable young players, is that they could become similarly accustomed to failure.
"There's always a danger of getting used to the results in the NBA," Taylor said. "I don't have enough history here to say what's going on, but at the same time, I think we have enough in this locker room to kind of change the atmosphere."
The Knicks' near miss against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night provided modest relief. They had a lead late in the fourth quarter before losing by six points, a significant improvement after three consecutive double-digit losses.
Afterward, coach Larry Brown joked about his team's struggles, saying, "I wanted to wear a baseball cap and sunglasses to my kid's game today." But at least he was in a joking mood, which was also an improvement.
The struggle for Brown is figuring out which players will lead the Knicks out of the darkness, or if he has any who are capable. He has already installed a 22-year-old rookie, Channing Frye, at power forward, and a raw 20-year-old, Trevor Ariza, at small forward. But just as the youth movement hit high gear, Brown yanked the rookie Nate Robinson from the starting lineup, then removed him from the rotation altogether. Robinson was placed on the inactive list Saturday, and Brown said he wanted to play just three guards.
The same factors that retarded the Knicks' cohesion early in the season continue to hinder them -- injuries, youth and Brown's ever-changing rotation. Brown pledged consistency last week, but he was immediately undermined by injuries to Eddy Curry and Jerome James.
The Knicks have had just one stretch of solid play. From Nov. 13 to Dec. 6, they went 6-6. But that period was sandwiched between the 0-5 start to the season and the current 0-6 run.
Curry could return this week, which would allow Brown to stick to a lineup and rotation, which should produce more consistent results on the court. Meanwhile, the front office is expected to be active on the trade market, dangling everyone not named Curry or Frye.
"I never accept losing," Brown said late Saturday night. "I mean, it's killing me. I feel bad for our fans, I feel bad for our team and ownership, the responsibility they gave me."
Atlanta's Josh Smith scored on a layup with 42 seconds left in overtime to snap a tie and Tyronn Lue hit a 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds remaining Sunday to clinch the suddenly rejuvenated Hawks' 110-107 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Atlanta (6-18) has won two straight and four of five. The Nuggets (12-13), who dressed only nine players due to injuries and played only seven, lost their third straight to match the longest losing streak of the season.
Lue was 5-of-6 from 3-point range and finished with 17 points. Zaza Pachulia added 15 points and Al Harrington had 14.
Nets 118, Warriors 90
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Jason Kidd fell one rebound shy of a triple-double, finishing with 24 points and 13 assists to lead New Jersey over Golden State.
Vince Carter scored 25 points for the Nets, who led 37-24 after their best first quarter of the season and never trailed. Nenad Krstic and Richard Jefferson each added 17 points.
Rockets 76, Lakers 74
In Los Angeles, Tracy McGrady's driving left-handed layup with 0.3 seconds left lifted Houston over Los Angeles.
The right-handed McGrady drove around Devean George at the top of the key and avoided Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown before laying the ball in just before time ran out.
McGrady led Houston with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists. David Wesley added 18 points and rookie Luther Head scored 16 for the Rockets.
The Rockets (10-13) won for the seventh time in nine games despite the absence of All-Star center Yao Ming, who missed his first game this season and the third of his career because of a sore right big toe.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers (13-11) with 24 points and six assists. Smush Parker and Kwame Brown each added 11 points for Los Angeles, which lost for just the second time in nine games.
Trail Blazers 97, Wizards 92
In Portland, Oregon, Juan Dixon scored 20 points against his former team and Portland held off Washington before just a couple thousand fans -- at best -- after a snow and ice storm hit the city earlier in the day.
Portland, which led by as many as 17 points, snapped a three-game losing streak.
The Blazers won despite being depleted by injury and illness. Starting forward Darius Miles had surgery to repair cartilage damage in his right knee on Friday and it is unclear when Portland will get him back. Starting point guard Sebastian Telfair has a sprained ligament in his right thumb and didn't play, and starting center Joel Przybilla was out with the flu.
Gilbert Arenas had 29 points for the Wizards, who opened a five-game trip with a 97-91 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
76ers 107, Raptors 80
In Toronto, Andre Iguodala tied a career-high with 26 points to lead Philadelphia over Toronto, which has the worst record in the National Basketball Association.
Iguodala repeatedly dunked on the Raptors, who fell to 4-20 overall and 1-12 at home.
Kyle Korver had 23 points and Allen Iverson added 18 for the Sixers, who have won five of six to raise their record to 13-12. Center Samuel Dalembert, who grew up in Montreal, added 18 rebounds and 11 points.
Hornets 89, Spurs 76
In Oklahoma City, P.J. Brown, involved in an altercation earlier in the game, sparked the decisive run for New Orleans.
Brown and the Hornets also held Tim Duncan to 11 points, matching his season low, before a Ford Center-record crowd of 19,267.
David West scored 19 points and Chris Paul finished one assist shy of his first career triple-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, who returned to Oklahoma City after playing their first game of the season in Baton Rouge, La., on Friday.
Michael Finley and Tony Parker had 17 points apiece for the Spurs.
Mavericks 102, Timberwolves 95
In Dallas, Josh Howard, Jason Terry and Devin Harris sparked a fourth-quarter surge, carrying Dallas past Minnesota.
Howard scored seven of his 23 points in the final period. Terry opened the quarter with a 3-pointer, ending a stretch of eight straight misses, and scored 10 of his 14 points in the quarter, with several coming from the foul line to preserve the win.
Dirk Nowitzki added 19 points, seven rebounds and a season-high four blocks as the Mavs capped a long homestand by going 4-1. Dallas has won eight of nine and is a game behind division rival San Antonio for the best record in the Western Conference.
Wally Szczerbiak scored 28 points and Kevin Garnett added 20 points, 16 rebounds and five assists, but the Timberwolves still extended their longest losing streak of the season to four.
Chinese All-Star center Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets missed his first game of the season and the third of his NBA career Sunday night because of a sore right big toe that will sideline him indefinitely.
"It's not a one-game thing," coach Jeff Van Gundy said before the Rockets met the Los Angeles Lakers in the finale of a six-game road trip. "It will probably be a multiple-game thing, whatever that is. We'll know more after he sees the doctor.
The 25-year-old center has played in 266 regular-season games since joining the Rockets in 2002.
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