Last Night's Action: Easier Not to Fall Behind By 22

After trailing by 22 late in the first half, the Knicks made it a two-point game in the third quarter and even to to 101-99 in the fourth. But they still lost. Maybe if they had shown up in the first half, things would have turned out differently.

Larry Hughes had 25 points in his first big game as a Knick -- he had been 4-for-22 since being acquired from the Bulls -- but that and Al Harrington's 25 was not enough.

For all the talk of the Knicks' making a playoff push, the team has lost nine of 12 and hasn't looked demonstrably better since trading for Hughes and Chris Wilcox. Of course, those aren't the names that should automatically create huge improvements. This goes to show that no matter how good Nate Robinson looks -- he had 14 points, a marked decrease for him of late -- the Knicks need to do other things well.