Randolph Decides to Care

Portland Trail Blazers 94, New York Knicks 88, OT

It's hard to imagine that the Knicks managed to score only 88 points in 53 minutes of basketball. It's also hard to imagine that Zach Randolph played a good game. But there he was, all square head atop rotund body, knocking down shots all night. In other words, he can play pretty well when he gives two shits.

Randolph had 25 points and 13 rebounds. But he also made only 11 of 23 shots and tied Nate Robinson for the Knicks' worst plus/minus of the night with -14. (Interestingly, good old Channing Frye had the overall worst plus/minus of the night, going an incredible -18 in 14:31. He had only two points and four boards).

The Knicks shot 39.4 percent overall, and Howard Beck of the Times delivered a gem of a backhanded compliment in his lede:

"Seven months after leaving, Zach Randolph returned to his original N.B.A. home Friday night and turned in a vintage performance. He arrived late, shot a lot, scored in bunches and left the Rose Garden with a loss — much as he did for his last few years with the Portland Trail Blazers."

Jamal Crawford might be the goat for now,
but Isiah's still the all-time idiot

Then again, Jamal Crawford missed 21 shots to easily take Goat of the Night honors. Nice going, J-Craw.

Here's the most important thing - New York is now 18-32 and has lost four straight. Now that's Knicks basketball.

The most refreshing sight (other than the Knicks blowing a lead again and then wasting away in overtime) was David Lee back in the starting lineup, his seventh appearance there this season. Calmly efficient, he shot 5 for 6 and had 14 rebounds. During the past three games, he's averaged 39 minutes per night and made 20 of 29 shots. In other words, I can't freakin' believe he hasn't been starting regularly. Then again, of course, Isiah's an idiot.

Up next: Knicks at Sonics at 10 p.m. Saturday.
Best-case scenario: Kevin Durant follows up his mega-performance in the Sonics' win against the Knicks in December by exploding for a quadruple-double: 40 points, 15 rebounds, 12 dimes and 10 steals.
Worst-case scenario: I'm loving these terrible road trips. It would be sad to see one end in victory.

Tax Time

Utah Jazz 100, New York Knicks 89
Los Angeles Lakers 120, New York Knicks 109

Ostensibly, the Zach Randolph swap last summer between the Knicks and the Trailblazers was a steal. New York got Randolph, while Portland got Channing Frye and an overpaid, washed-up Steve Francis that it cut almost immediately. As someone one said, you don't just give away 17-10 guys. But the Trailblazers were desperate to get Randolph off their court and out of their books, wanting to begin the new Greg Oden era without even a whiff of the old Jailblazers days.

And yet, the news from the Times yesterday was that Portland had the upper hand in the trade so far. The Times just had to rub it in. But remember, anytime Isiah Thomas is involved in a trade, you can usually put down good odds that he's the one who'll be screwed in the end.

Speaking of duplicitous, incompetent, misleading, prevaricating and just plain crazy GMs, Thomas has finally fessed up and intimated interest in trading for Jason Kidd. This is the same guy who has been insisting since December that he likes the team he has and doesn't want to move any of the pieces on Team Titanic II, the magnum opus he spent four years putting together. Two months and hundreds of denial ready, he's conceded that Curry/Randolph isn't the answer and wants a point guard who actually, you know, doesn't blow donkey guts.

And finally, here was this great tidbit from a press conference a few days ago:

"Our guys are still trying to carve out their turf in the league," Thomas said. "They haven't really gotten to the point where they're superstars." Thomas then paused a second and his shoulders dropped. "Now, I hate that I said that because your headline writers will write, 'Knicks Have No Superstars; Isiah's Crazy,'" he said. One reporter playfully retorted, "We say that anyway."

Now this is brilliant stuff. It's never good when a coach or player starts reading the papers too closely, especially in a place as harsh as New York. Well, the False Prophet has obviously begun to do so, and I like this new little paranoid side of him that's envisioning negative headlines.

Of course, all of this stuff is good news. But nowhere near as good as watching the Knicks collapse down the stretch against the Lakers and then lose a yawner the next night in Salt Lake City.

You are about to see Kobe Bryant make Jamal Crawford his bitch

So overall a wonderful little two-day stretch. And then it just got about a thousand times better when I saw this article in the Times. The city has apparently lost about $300 million in tax revenue because of a weird exception granted the Garden of Hate over 30 years ago. Now that's going to end because the City council voted 40-3 to end the loophole. It's these sort of little changes that wave the stick at MSG management (who am I kidding, these guys are richer than kings and even more cruel). Less money for James "Fredo" Dolan and more for NYC? Sounds good to me.

The great thing is that this sort of decision must have been affected by the Knicks' putrefaction over the past several years. It might not be an official reason, but it's impossible to imagine that the utter shittiness on display at the Garden didn't influence some council members, just as it must have influence some of the decision-makers in the Anucha Browne Sanders trial last summer.

Next up: Knicks at Trailblazers at 10:30 p.m. Friday.
Best-case scenario: Frye posts 20 points and 20 boards and then bitch slaps Zach Randolph during pregame handshakes.
Worst-case scenario: Randolph scores 50 while leading the Knicks to a win, then runs through downtown Portland, destroying the cityscape like some overgrown Godzilla as Isiah runs behind him yelling, "No, Zach, no!"