Amar'e Insists 'It's Not Over Yet' After Knicks' 7th Straight Loss
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (CBSNewYork/AP) — By now many New York Knicks fans have given up on making the playoffs.
But forward Amar'e Stoudemire insists "it's not over yet," despite yet another loss Monday night in a season full of letdowns.
"It's tough," Stoudemire said after the Knicks fell 96-85 to the Detroit Pistons. "Obviously we don't want to lose. But we've got to be optimistic still."
New York has dropped seven straight games and 13 of 15. The Pistons had lost four straight and seven of eight.
"I'm running out of comments," Carmelo Anthony said.
And the Knicks are running out of time to rally for a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
"It seems like it's becoming repetitive, saying the same thing over and over," Anthony said. "We've got to try to find something else to talk about."
It looked like the Knicks' skid might end after Anthony scored 10 of his 28 points in a first quarter in which they led by as much as 14 and were ahead 28-20 when it ended.
But New York couldn't find an answer for Andre Drummond, who had 17 points and a career-high 26 rebounds to match a single-season franchise record with his 44th double-double.
"A game like this is very disappointing," Knicks center Tyson Chandler said. "When you have that kind of lead and when you have that kind of control of the game, you should be able to win. We just went flat and let them take over."
Stoudemire played 32 minutes and had 22 points — one short of his season high.
J.R. Smith missed a lot of attempts before closing 5 of 17 from the field and scoring 16 points for the Knicks.
New York's Raymond Felton made only 1 of 9 shots and acknowledged his personal life might be affecting him professionally. He was charged last month with criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and criminal possession of a firearm.
"Obviously if you're dealing with something, it's on your mind," Felton said. "But I try not to let that come into my job."
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