The Knicks are killing me this season. I feel like Al Pacino in Godfather Part III; every time I think they’re out of it, they keep pulling me back in. Two weeks ago, the Knickerbockers looked destined to be headed to another lottery this offseason. And then they win six of nine to pull to within a game of that highly competitive eight seed in the Eastern Conference.

Now I’m not getting my hopes too high just yet. Only three teams out of the last nine teams that the Knicks have played had winning records. I thought the game last night, though, was a huge win. I can’t remember too many games this season when the Knicks hung tough against a good team. It seems like they either blow their opponents out or get blown out. We haven’t seen many games when they were sticking around the whole game and then made a nice run in the fourth to pull out a victory.

I think the reason for this is the abysmal defensive play of the Knicks. When they’re losing, it’s usually because they can’t hit shots. Since they can’t stop anybody on defense, they tend to get down by a lot when they are having off nights. But last night they didn’t shoot the ball particularly well (only 28% from 3-point

range) and were able to keep the game close.

You have to keep in mind that Yao Ming did not play and, if he had, this game would have went much differently. Even without Yao, though, the Rockets have a pretty solid team. There aren’t too many players that play tougher D than Ron Artest and Shane Battier, and they still got the prolific Tracey McGrady. The Knicks held the Rockets to just 38% shooting. There were unnecessary double teams and defensive lapses every now and then, but overall this was as good of a defensive effort as I have seen the Knicks give all season.

On the offensive side of the court, the Knicks had eight more assists than turnovers and shot a sizzling 47% from the field (although I mentioned the sub-30% performance from beyond the arc). They really fought hard all game to keep it close and straight up out last the Rockets. As D’Antoni spreads minutes around to more players, I think that’s what the Knicks are going to have to do more often. They’re a team that thrives off insanely energetic players like Nate Robinson and David Lee, and now that they have an eight or nine man rotation as opposed to the six man rotation they were playing at the end of December, they players can really go all out every minute.

I want to update a section which I wrote in my last post about which Knick players I want to keep.  I said I wanted to keep Al Harrington and give up Nate Robinson. In the two weeks since I wrote that, I am leaning toward the reverse. Harrington is a funny player. His propensity for shooting the basketball is simultaneously his greatest strength and weakness. When the Knicks are in an offensive drought, he’s usually the one carrying them but when the Knicks are on a roll he really hurts them.

Harrington just takes a lot of bad shots. I’ve never seen a power forward who shoots more threes than him. It’s not that I don’t want him shooting 3’s at all, but he needs to take less – especially when there’s more than 10 seconds on the shot clock. The problem he poses to the future of the franchise is I don’t think he

will be happy taking a backseat to a prime time player. Harrington seems like the type of player who is going to take his 15-20 shots per game no matter what.

Nate Robinson, on the other hand, has been tremendous. He still has little spasms of stupidity but, for the most part, his energy has been fantastic. He’s playing good defense and driving to the basket more than hurling up crazy three pointers. He’s at his best when he is penetrating and I hope he continues to tear up the paint.

The early verdict on Gallinari is also in and it’s a good one. The guy has only played in like five games and he’s already a fan favorite. He definitely needs to get stronger but he does everything. He’s a very good shooter, he goes after loose balls, and can handle the rock as well. And did you hear that he has great basketball instincts? (The over-under on Bodog for how many times Walt Frazier and Mike Breen mention this fact about Gallinari is at two hundred and thirty seven for tomarrow night’s game.)

The bottom line of this post is: the Knicks are winning, enjoy it while it lasts.