TORONTO — You can’t blame Mike D’Antoni for this offensive disaster.
The Knicks came back to Toronto for the first time since Jeremy Lin hit a shot heard ’round the NBA on Valentine’s Day. But there was no Linsanity on Friday night — only a lot of ineptness on the Knicks’ part and a shocking lack of effort in a 96-79 loss to the struggling Raptors.
AMAR’E, LEBRON SHOW SUPPORT FOR SLAIN TRAYVON MARTIN
The Knicks had whipped up on Toronto only three days earlier at the Garden, scoring 106 points. But this time, against a swarming zone, they looked worse than they ever did under their former coach and finished with their second-lowest point total of the season.
Booed for most of the game, Lin had one of his worst nights since he burst on the scene six weeks ago while leading the Knicks to seven straight wins. He made only three baskets in nine tries, scored six points and couldn’t facilitate other Knick shooters, finishing with only four assists. Carmelo Anthony couldn’t make outside shots again and finished with 12 points, missing nine of 15 shots. Amar’e Stoudemire missed six foul shots while scoring 17 for the Knicks, who slipped to 23-25 by shooting only 38%.
But even with a dead offense, Mike Woodson was more upset with his team’s anemic effort after his record as interim coach fell to 5-1. As early as the morning shootaround, he set off alarms, as if he expected some sort of major letdown after his team’s big win against the Sixers on Wednesday.
“I just want guys to be accountable for what they do on and off the floor,” he said. “We’re fighting right now to stay afloat and stay in the playoff hunt and we just can’t have any slippage right now. It’s important that guys get rest when we have an opportunity to rest, and when we have study sessions and (are) watching videotapes, they’ve got to be alert and attuned to what we want done … because games are coming at us so fast. It’s a sense of urgency right now, as far as I’m concerned.”
Despite that strong warning, Woodson saw his worst nightmare quickly unfold, with the Raptors salting the game away by outscoring the Knicks 31-17 in the third period. DeMar DeRozan led Toronto (16-32) with 30 points, while Raptor reserve Gary Forbes went for 19 points in 20 minutes.
The Knicks saw the Bucks pick up valuable ground in the race for eighth place via their win over Charlotte. The Knicks are only a half-game ahead of the Bucks, with the two teams having a critical showdown Monday at the Garden.
“I just didn’t see energy,” Woodson said. “We were a step slow from the very beginning. We looked tired after a day off. We’ve got to play at a much higher level than we did. We didn’t play. Bad coaching, that’s what I call it.”
Or, did the Knicks enjoytheir day off in Toronto maybe a little too much?
“It wasn’t that, it was just a case of us not having the energy,” Stoudemire said, munching on French fries after the media crowd had dispersed from his stall. “I know I said in Chicago we had to stop joking around. But it wasn’t that, either. We’ve been much better in these last five games with our approach. We’ve been more serious.”
But then they threw it all away, prompting Woodson to warn his players not to let this kind of effort “linger” when the Knicks host the Pistons Saturday night.
Meanwhile, Anthony maintained that his wrist is fine, but there’s something drastically wrong with his shooting touch when he’s not attacking the basket.
“I never thought I’d be saying this,” he said, forcing a laugh, “but my defense is ahead of my offense right now.”
MRI FOR JEFFRIES
After missing Friday’s game, Jared Jeffries will have an MRI on his right knee Saturday morning in New York. Jeffries, a key component of the Knicks’ revitalized defense, injured the knee in Wednesday’s win over the Sixers. He will miss Saturday’s game against Detroit. Jeffries believes the injury is not serious, but might require some sort of surgery after the season.
Mlawrence@nydailynews.com
