Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter | 

As the Knicks (4-17) prepare to host the Denver Nuggets (13-5) Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York, here are several notes from Wednesday's practice.

With seven straight losses, the Knicks continue to search for their first win since Nov. 18's 123-105 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers, but they should get a big boost in the lineup.

Marcus Morris should return for the Knicks against Denver after missing two games with a neck injury (more on that below). New York should also have Elfrid Payton and Frank Ntilikina vs. the Nuggets.

Allonzo Trier finally found his way back into the Knicks' lineup in their blowout against the Bucks on Sunday night after posted DNPs in the previous two. And unfortunately for him, that has been common of late. 

Trier's name hasn't come up a lot for the Knicks, and that is probably due to the fact that he has only played in two of the last 10 games. He had six straight DNPs before David Fizdale played him for seven minutes against the Raptors on Nov. 27. 

In fact, Trier has only played in 10 of the Knicks' 21 games this season, and the logjam in the backcourt is the main reason why. 

It's been months since they made their decision, but Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant continue to catch flak for choosing the Nets over the Knicks. This time the shot comes from rapper and New York's own Fat Joe.

Speaking with Sports Illustrated on Wednesday, Joe said that the two NBA All-Stars didn't want to deal with the pressure of being a Knick, yet still wanted to play in New York. The alternative, then, was to go to Brooklyn.

"You got to understand a lot of players, and I'll call them out: Kyrie, Durant. They didn't want that New York Knick pressure," Joe said. "They didn't want that media attention. They didn't want Sports Illustrated being right in the backyard. They didn't want that, so they said, 'Alright, we want New York, but let's do the lesser of the drama. Let's go to Brooklyn.'"

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Former Celtics great Kevin Garnett wasn't surprised that Kyrie Irving left Boston in the offseason to sign with the Brooklyn Nets. 

"No," Garnett said during an interview in New York to promote the film, 'Uncut Gems,' which stars Garnett and Adam Sandler and will be released on Christmas. 

Garnett explained why he wasn't shocked that Irving didn't want to re-sign with the Celtics. 

We are at about the quarter-way point of the NBA season and the Knicks find themselves with the second worst record in the league and at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

At 4-17, the Knicks have fallen to new lows and are on pace to break the record they tied last season for the worst season in team history. 

Head coach David Fizdale has been in an extremely hot seat ever since Knicks president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry held a rare press conference after the team started the season 2-8. 

Since then, the Knicks have gone 2-9.

The lingering question after the Knicks' 44-point loss in Milwaukee is this: how much longer will David Fizdale be on the sidelines?

We don't have a definitive answer, but one member of the organization said late last month that he expected management to fire Fizdale soon, per SNY sources. The person who expressed the thought isn't someone who would make the decision to fire Fizdale. But the idea that a member of the Knicks believes a coaching change is coming says a lot about the level of uncertainty in New York right now.

As you know, there has been speculation about Fizdale's job status for several weeks amid New York's 4-17 start.

The Knicks never led in Monday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks and dropped their seventh straight game, 132-88. >> Box Score

Five things to know from Sunday's game

1) Milwaukee jumped out to a 33-15 lead after the first quarter and coasted the rest of the way to a victory. Khris Middleton's three-pointer on the first position of the game set the tone, and the Knicks were never closer on the scoreboard than they were at the opening tip-off.

Frank Ntilikina is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Bucks, the Knicks announced. 

Ntilikina had been listed as questionable earlier in the day, but with the point guard's status up in the air, the team brought in Kadeem Allen from Westchester. 

Ntilikina played just seven minutes in Sunday's loss to the Celtics before being removed due to back spasms. Dennis Smith Jr. played a season-high 38 minutes in his absence, scoring 17 points, another season high. 

Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter |

Amid a miserable start to this Knicks season, there have been a few positive developments. Frank Ntilikina has shown that he's -- at the very least -- a capable NBA rotation player in the league. Marcus Morris has shot incredibly well from beyond the arc (52 percent). And, of course, there's RJ Barrett.

On most nights, Barrett has impacted the game on both ends of the floor and played with a poise and awareness that you wouldn't expect from a 19-year-old.

Before Sunday's loss to the Celtics, Boston head coach Brad Stevens offered his thoughts on Barrett: "The first time I saw him in person up close here was the third game of the season and his body, physicality, skill level, all ready for the NBA. I think that's pretty unique for a wing in the league"

The Knicks will be missing one of their key players when they take on the Bucks on Monday night in Milwaukee, with Marcus Morris (cervical spasms) ruled out.

Morris did not travel with the Knicks to Milwaukee.

Frank Ntilikina, who left Sunday's game against the Celtics early due to back spasms and was later ruled out, is questionable for Monday night.

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Last year after 20 games, the Knicks were 6-14. They went on to win just 11 more games. That summer, they spent $70 million in free agency. They didn't sign their top targets, but landed players they felt would improve the team.

It's fair to assume that no one in the organization thought this year's Knicks would be worse than last year's team. But New York will wake up on Monday with a 4-16 record, two games worse than last season and tied with Atlanta for the worst record in the league.

If you're looking for people to blame for the Knicks' awful start, you can point the finger in several directions.

The Knicks were outscored 32-14 in the fourth quarter, eventually losing 113-104 to the Celtics at Madison Square Garden. >> Box Score

Five things to know from Sunday's game

1) Julius Randle led the Knicks with 26 points and five rebounds, but went 0-for-5 from three in the game. The team as a whole went just 8-for-26 (30.8 percent) from three, while the Celtics shot 15-for-41 from three (36.6 percent).

Knicks point guard Frank Ntilikina will not return to Sunday's game against the Celtics, as he is dealing with a sore upper back, the team announced.

Ntilikina played just seven minutes against the Celtics before exiting the game. He had three points and an assist in limited action.

The No. 8 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft has been playing some of his best basketball recently as the Knicks starting point guard. He has been averaging 7.6 points and 4.6 assists over the last ten games.

Second-year forward Kevin Knox will start for the Knicks on Sunday against the Celtics with Marcus Morris out, the team announced.

Knox was a DNP-CD on Friday night in the team's loss to the 76ers, and has seen more than 12 minutes in a game just once over the past five games.

Knicks head coach David Fizdale has elected to play veterans like Morris over Knox so far this season. Before Friday's game, Fizdale spoke about Knox's playing time.

As the Knicks hit their practice courts on Saturday afternoon, there was a special guest in attendance. 

Performing artist J. Cole, who is nominated for four Grammy Awards this year, was on site to watch practice and to speak with the team. 

Born on a military base in Germany, Cole grew up in North Carolina, but moved to New York City after high school, attending St. John's.

David Fizdale likes to break the Knicks' 82-game schedule into 10-game stretches. 

Over the team's first 10 games of the year, the Knicks went 2-8. Sunday's game against the Boston Celtics will be the team's 20th game of the season, and currently, the team is just 2-7 in this second 10-game span of the season.

Still, head coach David Fizdale believes that there have been notable improvements during the latest 10-game stretch, despite that fact that the team has just two wins during that time frame.

The Knicks will look to break out of their current five-game losing streak when they host the the Boston Celtics on Sunday, but they may without their leading scorer.

Following the team's practice on Saturday, the team announced that forward Marcus Morris is questionable to play on Sunday due to cervical spasms.

The free agent pickup has played in every game this season with the Knicks, and he's taken on the role as the team's leading scorer during his first season in New York. He's averaged 18.7 points this season, easily the highest total of his NBA career. He's also scored 20 points or more in 11 of the Knicks' 19 games. 

The Knicks have reshaped their roster over the last year and change, saying goodbye to some familiar faces (some beloved, some not) in the process. We'll take a look at how some of those former Knicks are performing with their new teams as the 2019-20 NBA season is underway...

Kristaps Porzingis, Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs went 2-1 this week, but Porzingis' shooting woes have started to become a storyline. Since dropping 23 points against the Rockets last Sunday, the Latvia native has had two straight sub-par games. In a 15-point loss to the Clippers, Porzingis was just 4-of-13 from the floor, and he followed that up with an 0-for-8 performance on Friday night against the Suns. The game marked the first time this season that he was held without a field goal, as he totaled just two points in 33 minutes.

The Mavs are back on the court on Sunday agianst the Lakers.

When Kristaps Porzingis was traded to the Mavericks last season, he was joined by Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee and Trey Burke on the move to Dallas. 

Nearly a year later, what precipitated to the deal is still somewhat of a mystery. There was a meeting between Porzingis and the Knicks' front office about the direction of the team, and just two days later, the Latvian native was out the door. People have said that Porzingis was so unhappy, he demanded the trade himself.  

But Burke -- now with the 76ers and who was back at Madison Square Garden on Friday for the first time since the trade -- shed a new light on the days leading up to Porzingis' departure.

Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter | 

If you look at the box score of Friday's Knicks-Sixers game, Kevin Knox's DNP-CD makes sense. With Knox on the bench, the Knicks had a chance to win a game against one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference.

But if you dig a little deeper, the idea that Knox -- the Knicks' 2018 first-round pick -- didn't play at all Friday night leads to questions about New York's direction this season.

The Knicks, as you know, spent $70 million in free agency over the summer. So they came into the season expecting to be much more competitive than last year's 17-win team.

The Knicks played their best defensive first half all season, but fell apart in the second half, losing 101-95 to the 76ers on Friday night. >> Box Score

Five things to know from Friday's game

1) The Knicks got out to a 31-18 lead in the first quarter, as the team went 5-for-8 from three point land. It was the first time all season that they gave up less than 20 points in the first quarter. Rookie RJ Barrett led the way, scoring 10 points after playing all 12 minutes.

The Knicks lost their first matchup of the season with the 76ers 109-104 on Nov. 20, as the Knicks were up 17 points in the third quarter before the Sixers went on a run in the fourth to win the game.

Sixers star Ben Simmons had 18 points, 13 assists and 7 rebounds in the win, including the first three-pointer of his NBA career. Before Friday's game between the two team, Knicks head coach David Fizdale spoke about how his team will try to defend Simmons.

"Unless you got some kind of robot that I don't know about, I'm trying everybody on him," Fizdale said. "The kid can flat out play basketball. He understand the game, he has an incredible I.Q. His motor is second to none. He reminds me of this guy I coached in Miami for a little bit, with that size and that speed. And the ability to see the floor and make other people better."

Carmelo Anthony dropped 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting -- averaging out at 81.8 percent, the best single-game clip of his 17-year career -- as he helped the Portland Trail Blazers to Wednesday's 136-119 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Anthony's debut before the home crowd at Mora Center in Portland, Oregon, complemented the Blazers' 20-point trio of guards Damian Lillard (27) and CJ McCollum (22) with center Hassan Whitesite (21) for 89 points between the four starters.

The fifth game of Anthony's Blazers stint followed Monday's 117-94 win over the Bulls at United Center in Chicago, where he lifted the Blazers (7-12) with his game-high 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting and 4-for-7 clip from three-point range.

Wednesday night's 126-98 loss to the Raptors was certainly disheartening for the Knicks, who have now lost four straight games and dropped to 4-14, tied for the worst record in the East.

Following the game, Knicks head coach David Fizdale was asked about what his message was to his team, a group that was outscored 105-69 in the game's final three quarters.

"Message to the team is 'trust','' Fizdale told reporters. "Right now we're still fighting that fight to trust each other defensively and offensively. First quarter, you saw the ball move without hesitation. We get to the second quarter, guys were holding the ball too long. They have to trust the easy play and the pass."

RJ Barrett's Toronto homecoming didn't go the way he may have hoped, as the Knicks fell to the Raptors 126-98 on Wednesday, but there's plenty the rookie can learn from his return to his hometown.

As a team, the Knicks played consistent, team basketball in the first quarter, leading by as many as 10 points and taking a 29-21 lead into the first quarter break. 

But the Raptors answered back, as reigning NBA Champions tend to do, outscoring the Knicks 105-69 over the final three quarters, led by 31 points from Pascal Siakam.

The Knicks held the lead after one quarter, but Toronto dominated the rest of the way en route to a 126-98 victory on Wednesday night. >> Box Score

Five things to know from Wednesday's game

1) RJ Barrett took the court in his hometown of Toronto for the first time as an NBA player, showing some love for his hometown with his footwear. The rookie did not have a very efficient night from the floor, shooting just 5-of-17 from the floor overall, but he chipped in with 16 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

Hours before Wednesday's 7:30 p.m. game against the Raptors at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Knicks shooting guard RJ Barrett revealed during shootaround that he plans to play for Team Canada over the summer after his rookie season wraps up.

Barrett's head coach, David Fizdale, fully supports the move as Barrett aims to help Team Canada's pursuit for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

"I love it," Fizdale said, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. "I think those experiences really help those guys. It gives them an opportunity to see how other very good basketball players work and you're playing against the best in the world."

RJ Barrett plans to play for Team Canada this summer, he told reporters on Wednesday.

"One-hundred percent. I definitely plan on playing for my country this summer. I'm very proud to say that," the shooting guard said at the Knicks' shootaround at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto ahead of the rookie's first game at home in Canada.

Barrett didn't play for Team Canada last summer ahead of the FIBA World Cup due to injury.

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The Knicks rank 29th in points per possession. They also rank 27th in pace. The two numbers don't correlate directly, of course. (The Lakers are bottom ten in pace and top ten in offense.) But you can be sure that the Knicks want to increase their ranking in both categories. 

David Fizdale said his team spent time on Tuesday playing with a 12-second shot clock in an effort to increase their pace. 

The Knicks released an injury report before their contest with the Raptors on Tuesday, and RJ Barrett was listed as questionable with an illness. However, head coach David Fizdale believes he'll be able to touch the hardwood by tip-off. 

"I think it's just a matter of him feeling better in general," Fizdale told reporters after practice on Tuesday. "But I think he'll be ready to go."

Barrett affirmed those remarks from Fizdale, saying that he is feeling better since missing Sunday night's contest against the Nets.

The Toronto homecoming for Knicks rookie RJ Barrett may not be too joyous, as the team announced he is dealing with an illness and is currently questionable to play. 

It would be a shame if Barrett couldn't play in his first game in his home country, especially considering the Raptors are reportedly planning a tribute for the 19-year-old, per The Post's Marc Berman. Barrett has played for Team Canada in the past, while his father, Rowan Barrett, is the GM for the Canadian national team. 

Barrett actually sat out of his first game on Sunday against the Nets with an illness, but it was only as a precaution. If Barrett does have to sit out again, it wouldn't just hurt the Raptors' plans for him, but would hurt the Knicks' production as well.

Knicks guard RJ Barrett is the youthful face of Canadian basketball. When he returns to his home country on Wednesday, he's going to get a warm welcome. 

According to a report from The Post, when the Knicks (4-13) visit the Toronto Raptors (11-4) this week, the home team is going to "show a tribute" to Barrett. 

Barrett, 19, will be playing in his first-career game in Toronto. 

The Knicks did not offer Richard Jefferson a contract prior to either this season or last season, according to a tweet from the team's official PR account.

This contradicts what Jefferson said on the Nets' television broadcast Sunday, when he said he opted to retire rather than finish his career with the Knicks.

"I refused to play for the Knicks," Jefferson said Sunday. "Like, Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin -- they don't really care. Me, I was the one person that said, 'Knicks? No, I'll retire.' That's why I retired. They were the one team that offered me a job. I decided to retire."

Mitchell Robinson and Jarrett Allen are both terrific players who should be impact players for the Knicks and Nets in the coming years. But Robinson finds the notion that Allen has emerged as the best young center in New York to be laughable.

After the Nets won on Sunday night -- the second time they've beaten the Knicks this season in as many tries -- @NetsDaily tweeted that Allen had "proven" himself to be better than Robinson, writing:

"In 3-game winning streak, @_bigjayy_ has averaged 17 and 12. He's also the NBA leader in shooting percentage so far this season."

The Nets came away with another close victory over the Knicks, making it two games in a row where Brooklyn took down their crosstown rival this season.  

And though he didn't play, Kevin Durant made sure to rub it in. 

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Being a Knicks fan is hard. 

There are some days when things are looking bright for the franchise, whether it's securing RJ Barrett at the top of the NBA Draft or the team hits a small win streak. But, most of the time, anger becomes the primary emotion as the team tumbles to the bottom of the heap for yet another season. 

There are many stages of being a Knicks fan, and SNY contributor Kaz Famuyide is here to show you every single one...

Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter | 

We're still more than two months from the trade deadline, but an important date on the NBA transaction calendar is approaching: Dec. 15.

That's the first day that players who signed as free agents last summer can be traded.

Given the Knicks' record (4-13), will management start to look at trading players for draft picks around that time?

An unforgiving turnaround follows the Knicks' 103-101 loss to the Nets Sunday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

After the Knicks (4-13) fell short of the fourth quarter's comeback attempt against the Nets (8-8), the week's brutal stretch looms large.

Following the weekend's back-to-back games at MSG, including Saturday's 111-104 defeat at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs -- who snapped eight straight losses with the win over the Knicks -- second-year head coach David Fizdale leads his team into a daunting task.

The Knicks refused to go away, but the Nets held on 103-101 Sunday at Madison Square Garden in New York. >> Box Score

Five things to know from Sunday's game

1) Starting for rookie shooting guard RJ Barrett, who missed the game with an illness, the Knicks went with small forward Kevin Knox at the two. Knox was unable to contribute much offensively, scoring five points on 1-of-4 shooting and two free throws, and added only three rebounds and three assists. Barrett's overall presence was missed on both ends.

Imagine if Richard Jefferson played for the Knicks?

The former Net from 2001-08 joked that he knew his time in the NBA would be over if New York were to express interest.

Jefferson retired after the 2017-18 season with the Denver Nuggets, but revealed on the YES Network broadcast of Sunday's game at Madison Square Garden in New York between the Knicks and Brooklyn Nets that the former gave him a call before he decided to end his 17-year career.

The Knicks will be without rookie guard RJ Barrett on Sunday night against the Nets, as he sits out with an illness.

Kevin Knox will replace Barrett in the starting lineup as the Knicks try to win the second installment of the "Battle of the Boroughs" this season.

Considering Barrett put up 16 points, three rebounds, three assists and a career-high six steals against the Nets in their first meeting, the Knicks will sure feel his absence.

Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter | 

We're still in November, so it's way too early in the NBA season for a must-win game. But Bobby Portis knows that the Knicks need to play with a sense of urgency on Sunday against Brooklyn. 

"We need a win bad," he said on Saturday after the Knicks' loss to San Antonio. "Obviously we had three heartbreakers the last four games…. (Sunday) is really, really critical for us to go out there and be really prepared."

The Knicks weren't prepared on Saturday. They fell behind by 16 in the first quarter and 28 early in the third. They closed the gap late in the fourth but ultimately lost, 111-104, to a Spurs team that was playing without PG Dejounte Murray and that had dropped eight straight. 

The Knicks found themselves down by as much as 28 points in Saturday night's game against the Spurs and ultimately lost by seven, but if there were a moral victory to be found from the performance--though David Fizdale says there are no moral victories--it would be Frank Ntilikina's performance.

Ntilikina put together one of his best all-around games of the season against San Antonio, scoring nine points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out a season-high nine assists. But those stats aren't even the main takeaways of his night.

The point guard played a great game on the defensive side of the ball by locking up ball handlers, pressing up in the backcourt and stealing the ball a career-high tying six times, helping the Knicks cause 21 Spurs turnovers Saturday.

The Knicks fell down from the get go Saturday night and couldn't get themselves completely back up in this one, as the Spurs came into Madison Square Garden and beat New York 111-104 to end their eight game losing streak. >> Box Score

Five things to know from Saturday's game

1) The Knicks were unable to capitalize on the Spurs recent uncharacteristic struggles and had a rough time in this one, going down early and letting things get out of hand by the middle of the second quarter--just about the same time the first boos started to rain down at Madison Square Garden from the Knicks faithful.

The Knicks started the season with just one win in their first eight games, but as of late, the team has shown signs of finding more consistency. 

With a stretch of three wins in their last seven games, the Knicks are building back into the team they hoped to be heading into the season, and according to head coach David Fizdale, it all comes down to how well the Knicks have been defending the paint lately.

"We're taking care of the paint, and that was our number one emphasis," Fizdale said prior to Saturday's game against the Spurs. "Can we be a top five team defensively in shutting down the paint? I think right now we're like five or six, teetering in that area now. The next thing is us getting a little more uncomfortable at getting to the three-point line. Touch fouls I think is another thing we can get better at and improve on, but I'm definitely happy about the way we're shutting down the paint."

Big changes could be coming to the NBA in the near future.

According to a report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the league is considering making sweeping changes that include a shortened regular season, an in-season soccer-style, tournament, reseeding in the playoffs, and a new play-in scenario for the playoffs.

Wojnarowski reports that the NBA is in "serious discussions" with the NBA Players Association and broadcast partners in regard to these new proposals, with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver behind the majority of the changes, and that the league is hoping to implement them for the 2021-22 season, with the framework needing to be established by this April's board of governors meeting.

The Knicks have reshaped their roster over the last year and change, saying goodbye to some familiar faces (some beloved, some not) in the process. We'll take a look at how some of those former Knicks are performing with their new teams as the 2019-20 NBA season is underway...

Kristaps Porzingis, Dallas Mavericks

Since losing to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 14, the Mavericks have won four straight games, with Porzingis playing an integral part. The former Knicks No. 4 overall pick recorded double-doubles in the first three of those games and had 17 points and seven rebounds in a blowout win over the Cavaliers on Friday.

Porzingis is averaging 18.1 points and 8.9 rebounds in 14 games this season.

Following the Nets 116-97 win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night, the team announced that Kyrie Irving will not play in the team's next three games due to his shoulder injury.

The Nets announced that they evaluated the injury on Friday, and deemed that their All-Star point guard will miss the next three games against the Knicks (which would have been his first game at MSG since signing with the Nets), the Cavaliers, and the Celtics (his two former teams).

Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson addressed the media prior to the Nets' matchup with the Kings, saying there was still no real timetable for Irving to return.

Knicks second-year player Kevin Knox saw just 10 minutes of action on Wednesday night in the team's 109-104 loss to the 76ers, as head coach David Fizdale mentioned that the No. 9 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft needs to put the work in on defense.

"I wouldn't call it disappointment at all, but I am definitely riding Kevin, to challenge him to go to another level, especially defensively," Fizdale said. "I think offensively he's starting to figure some things out. His shooting percentage is up, finishing around the rim is much better, he's seeing the floor better. But now I want him to take a big step, a big jump forward defensively. So that's why I'm really being hard on him right now."

Knox scored three points on just one three point shot attempt, while grabbing two rebounds and two assists in his limited action against Philadelphia. The forward from the University of Kentucky is averaging only 8.7 points per game in 21.3 minutes of action this season, but like Fizdale said, his shooting percentages are up -- shooting 40 percent from three in 2019 compared to 35 percent in 2018.