All that was missing was the gift-wrapping. The Knicks committed plenty of miscues at both ends in the final two minutes after fighting back from an 18-point, first-half deficit.But the biggest blunder came when J.R. Smith inexplicably left Miller to follow a cutting Mike Conley as the Knicks held a two-point lead. Sure enough, the Grizzlies found one of the better NBA sharpshooters, who stroked his fifth three-pointer on the night.Miller's shot ruined Tim Hardaway's 14-point fourth quarter and 23-point night. After setting a record with eight 3-pointers in Sunday's All-Star Game, Anthony made only one, finishing with 22 points while missing 14 of 22 shots. It was a nightmare game for Smith, who played for the first time with a mask to protect a broken bone in his face. He will be required to wear the mask the next three to four weeks. The mask affected his shooting, as he missed many of his shots badly, including a final three-pointer that he air-balled with the Knicks down, 94-93.
But it was his startling lapse that sent the Knicks to their sixth defeat in their last seven games.The loss, combined with Charlotte's win in Detroit, dropped the Knicks 3.5 games behind the eighth-place Bobcats."It cost us," Woodson said. "You've got to close it, but we're kind of snake-bitten a little bit."He doesn't have to remind his boss, Jim Dolan, who made a rare appearance on the road and witnessed another harrowing defeat from about 12 rows up behind his team's bench."Anytime your owner comes and supports you, it's fantastic to have," said Woodson, whose job security has been a constant theme all season.While Dolan can't be happy with how Woodson has handled the team in several of its late collapses, his focus now is probably on seeing if he can improve the team by Thursday's trading deadline.
Earlier in the day, Anthony revealed that if Dolan and GM Steve Mills are going to make a deal, they're going to give him a heads-up, which amounts to getting Anthony's tacit approval.Their trade talks have surrounded upgrading their point guard spot and that was a weak area again, as Raymond Felton struggled and was benched for the entire fourth quarter. Afterward, as Anthony was heading out, he said he had not spoken at all on Tuesday with Dolan, so apparently there isn't anything imminent.