Before the Knicks played the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night, Mike Woodson wore black as he met with the news media, perhaps for the final time as Knicks coach. He used the word “unfortunately” in response to four separate questions.
The Knicks did not survive the season so much as endure it. They stomached it, and so did their fans. The Knicks boasted championship aspirations and the second-highest payroll in the N.B.A., but the only thing those many millions bought was an early vacation, with the team eliminated from playoff contention in the final week of the regular season.
The Knicks slapped a stamp on their season with a 95-92 victory at Madison Square Garden. Despite the loss, the Raptors secured the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Toronto has more meaningful basketball ahead. For Woodson, who led the Knicks to 54 regular-season wins and the conference semifinals a year ago, the end could be near, as management weighs his future. Before the game, he sounded almost defiant at times.
“I’m the only guy for this job,” Woodson said, adding that he didn’t mean it in a boastful way.
“I feel good about what I do as a coach,” he said, “and I know the system works.”
Do the past eight months count? If so, they were an unkind litmus test, as the Knicks (37-45) reeled for long stretches, their chemistry as questionable as Woodson’s rotations.
Still, Woodson said he was already looking ahead, telling his players before Wednesday’s matchup that they all needed to work on their games over the summer, that they needed to commit themselves to improving so that the Knicks could avoid this sort of all-encompassing mess next season. It was a sad valedictory that doubled as a way for Woodson to imply that he would be right there with them when they convened for training camp.
But as Phil Jackson, the team’s new president, begins his overhaul of the franchise — a project that, at least in the short term, will involve a shovel rather than a backhoe because of salary-cap restraints — the coaching position could be a starting point. In the coming days, Jackson plans to conduct exit interviews with players and staff members. Woodson, who has another year on his contract, was asked if he would be a part of them.
“I won’t comment on that,” he said, adding: “We’ve had our little chats. But again, the big chat is going to be my job security and where I’m going to be. So that eventually will come, I’m sure.”
On Wednesday, the ambience at the Garden was muted, a shade of beige. The stands were full, but there seemed to be a sense of wistfulness about what could have been — or was it regret and remorse over what had actually happened? Amar’e Stoudemire, who overcame chronic knee injuries to play well in recent weeks, thanked the crowd before the game.
“We will come back stronger next year,” he said.
Tyson Chandler, Raymond Felton and Carmelo Anthony did not play. Anthony had a test this week that revealed a slight tear in his right shoulder, prematurely ending his season. He intends to become a free agent in July, and while the Knicks are sure to pursue him (and can offer him the most lucrative contract under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement), Anthony has said that he wants to weigh his options.
All the losing appeared to wear on him. Statistically, Anthony assembled one of his finer seasons, averaging 27.4 points and a career-best 8.1 rebounds while supplying a league-high 38.7 minutes per game. Yet the Knicks failed to crack .500 in a conference that threatened to break records for futility. Woodson kept citing injuries. Anthony kept citing the team’s inability to “figure it out.”
Stoudemire, whose default setting is unabashed optimism, was already in the planning stage.
“Next year, we’ve got to take more of a mind-set of trying to master the game,” he said, adding that the team was given certain strategies and at times “didn’t quite buy into it.”
Jackson’s work has begun. On Wednesday, the Knicks signed Lamar Odom for the final game of the season — though he did not play against the Raptors (48-34) and was not even at the Garden. The deal includes a team option for next season, the idea being that the Knicks can monitor his recovery from a back injury over the summer and evaluate whether he can be a low-cost contributor. Jackson coached Odom for six seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, and the two have remained close.
As the Knicks tiptoed toward an uncertain future, the immediate past was nothing short of bizarre: a season of orange jerseys and unlaced sneakers, mismatched lineups and locker-room sniping.
“We’ve had some bad luck, some bad breaks along the way,” Woodson said. “But hey, I can’t go back and get this season. If I could, I would.”
Not that it was a particularly high bar, but the Knicks played better basketball over the final weeks of the season. They won 16 of their final 21 games, including two victories over the playoff-bound Nets. It was small consolation.
“You can point the fingers in a lot of directions,” Woodson said. “At the end of the day, normally the coach is the guy who gets blamed. That’s just the nature of our sport.”