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It's not only the defensive effort. D'Antoni conceded before the games the intensity just isn't always there from his team, saying the Knicks sometimes get "lost" or "sidetracked."
And the crowd is recognizing it.
The building was often quiet, fans perhaps a little groggy after the clocks sprung forward and with an early start. But the Knicks also are not entertaining them the way they did during their seven-game winning streak last month. Lin has been solid but couldn't be expected to sustain his sensational level of play, and the Knicks are still unable to settle on their best rotation with a much deeper roster than they had back then.
Anthony, usually loudly cheered, had some boos sprinkled in when he was introduced with the starting lineups. A brief "Fire D'Antoni!" chant broke out in the final minutes, and there were some loud boos near the finish.
"Times where we went on a little spurt where we didn't make shots, guys were putting their heads down," Anthony said, "and they heard a couple of boos out there, that just sucked the whole energy out of everybody tonight out there on the basketball court and we can't have that."
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