Add Another Loss to the Knicks Losing Streak.

     The New York Knick's 3 game losing streak started with the "messy" performance against the Celtics, then carried on with a loss to the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs. Lately the Knicks have been having some defensive struggles which makes their chance of defeating elite teams, such as the Spurs, minimal. Against the Mavericks, the Knicks were unable to stop the high arched fade away jump shooting of power forward Dirk Nowitzki. He led the Mavericks to a 95-85 win with 28 points and 3 rebounds. Tonight, the Spur's veteran point guard Tony Parker had fun tearing apart the Knicks. Parker led the Spurs to a 118-105 win, leading his team with 32 points and 6 assists.

     Critics cannot blame Carmelo Anthony for the Knicks loss this time. After a disappointing 6 point performance against the Mavericks, Anthony was able to bounce back tonight with 27 points and shooting 12 for 24 from the field. Jeremy Lin also finished the game with 20 points, 4 assists, 3 steals, and only 1 turnover. All together, the Knicks only had 10 turnovers against the Spurs, which was actually not bad compared to the amount of turnovers they usually have a night. Now the main question is; what was the reason for the Knicks loss tonight? First off, they were missing one of the most important pieces to their lineup; Tyson Chandler. Chandler sat out of tonight's game with an injured hamstring and his injury is said to be day-to-day. Chandler is one of the only Knicks players who provides constant defense for the team. With him out of the lineup it makes it easier for other teams to gain penetration. The second, and biggest, reason for the Knicks loss tonight was due to the fact that they were playing one of the top defensive teams in the league. The Spurs are especially talented at transition defense and stopping opposing fast breaks. Coach D'Antoni mainly shapes his teams offense around speed and creating fast break opportunities in transition. Unfortunately for him and the Knicks, their offensive plan was shut down by a solid defensive team.

     It seems that, once the Knicks fast break opportunity is cut off by the opposing defense, they struggle to set up an offense. When they do attempt to set up an offense, the ball movement tends to be sloppy resulting in a large number of turnovers. The Knicks will travel to Milwaukee on Friday for a match-up against the Bucks. The best preparation for this game would be to practice ball movement and a set offense rather than constantly relying on fast break points.