Carmelo Anthony Calls Knicks’ 41-Point Loss ‘an Embarrassment’

Riding a two-game winning streak into Sunday afternoon’s tilt against the Boston Celtics, the New York Knicks failed to show up, and were blasted on their home floor 114-73. Carmelo Anthony and his ‘mates were completely humiliated. Per the NY Times: “It was a concerted effort that produced a 114-73 loss to the Boston Celtics, and Coach Mike Woodson was in the familiar position of attempting to explain, once again, how his team could have looked so unprepared, so unmotivated and so undisciplined. ‘I can’t have our guys stepping on the court doing what they did today,’ Woodson said, his voice trailing to a whisper. The Knicks (5-14), who have lost many other games this season, have used words like ‘frustrated’ and ‘unacceptable’ after previous misadventures. The problem after Sunday’s game was that they were running out of adjectives. Carmelo Anthony had to use nouns. ‘What Boston came here and did was an embarrassment,’ he said. He called it a ‘good old-fashioned’ whupping. To be specific, it was the third-worst home loss for the Knicks in franchise history and the most lopsided result in the league this season. Raymond Felton, Andrea Bargnani and Iman Shumpert combined to shoot 1 for 19. The Knicks were outrebounded by 46-26. They trailed by as many as 45 points. ‘I wish I could explain it,’ Woodson said. ‘I didn’t see this one coming.’ […] The Knicks shot 34.2 percent, and their reaction in the locker room was an odd mix. While Anthony clearly sounded upset, several teammates — including Felton, Shumpert and J. R. Smith — credited the Celtics’ hot shooting. ‘I wouldn’t say we had a bad effort,’ said Felton, who missed all six of his field-goal attempts. ‘Those guys were on fire. They came in, it was like the basket was the size of an ocean.’ It was a dreaded noon start for the Knicks, who have labored with early tip times. (Exhibit A: Their 120-89 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 10.) The Knicks were also missing Kenyon Martin, a dependable — albeit aging — defender who was inactive with what Woodson described as a sore ankle. And then there was the small matter of the Knicks’ attire. Despite losing all five games they had played while wearing orange uniforms this season, the Knicks gave it another try. It was a mistake, though their performance against the Celtics probably had more to do with an inability to play any semblance of cohesive team basketball.”