Derek Fisher Takes Out Starters In First Quarter, Calls Out Knicks After Loss
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- First-year head coach Derek Fisher has remained calm and composed throughout this nightmarish season.
But on Tuesday night, he finally showed some anger and frustration.
The Knicks were blown out by the Mavericks at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, dropping their record to an abysmal 5-22.
With a little more than five minutes remaining in the first quarter, Fisher took out all five of his starters as Dallas jumped out to a 26-11 lead.
"I thought the start was not the right way to start a professional basketball game," Fisher told reporters after the game. "It's not the way to start a game. The guys who started the game were a disappointment to their teammates. Guys who start a game have to be physically and mentally ready to play. We got five guys in there who played hard."
Carmelo Anthony, Tim Hardaway Jr., Amar'e Stoudemire, Jose Calderon and Quincy Acy were the starters who were embarrassingly told to take a seat.
"Hopefully it woke everyone up,'' Anthony, who finished with 26 points, told reporters. "He felt, at the time, the first five wasn't ready to play and we went with it. No, it never happened to me."
Stoudemire agreed with Fisher's decision, according to the New York Post, calling it "a great substitution."
In Tyson Chandler's first game at the Garden since being traded by team president Phil Jackson in late June, he scored eight points and brought down 14 rebounds in 25 minutes.
New York will take on the Bulls in Chicago on Thursday.
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