In this league, anyone can lose to anyone. Hey, the Lakers went 0 for Florida a week ago, and the Celtics are 0 for California currently, with a loss last night to the 9-22 Warriors. So the Knicks losing to the Timberwolves wasn't a surprise, if we want to apply all the cliches and say that even a team as flawed as the Wolves was due after 13 straight losses.

That's about as positive a spin as could be put on last night's loss, which was arguably the worst of this season -- worse than any of the beatdowns applied by the Sixers, the Celtics, or the two over-by-the-first-quarter routs by Cleveland. The Knicks have been through a lot this season, but efforts like this are inexcusable, and it was no surprise to see Coach D finally lose his cool and rip the team after the first play of the 4th quarter, when Telfair ran Duhon off a pick and flew to the backet untouched for a three point play that put his team up by 21.

As with the recent losses to the Celtics and Bucks, the team looked largely lifeless and hapless on defense, and was erratic in their execution offensively. Because they were playing the Timberwolves, the first quarter was close and went back and forth, but by the second quarter, the Wolves were sinking one open three pointer after another, growing in confidence with each made jumpshot.

With the Wolves' size inside and their poor 3 point shooting numbers for the season, it wasn't unreasonable for the Knicks to shade their defense toward packing it in inside, but at times it looked like the Knicks didn't believe the Wolves could make any outside shots and they simply didn't bother to run out at the shooters.

Duhon took a nasty (and accidental) elbow from the Wolves' McCants late in the second quarter, which required nine stitches to close, and though he gamely returned in the second half, D'Antoni shut him down after a period of ineffective play. With the the scratch of QRich (sprained ankle) before the game, the Knicks were even more pathetically short handed than usual.

But this was hardly an excuse for the poor ball movement and indifferent defense and head-shaking decisions on display through most of the second and third quarters that allowed the Wolves to build a 22 point lead and withstand several runs by the Knicks. With Duhon's injury, Nate for better or worse led the team for most of the game and had many spectacular plays.  He also got burned frequently on D, and had one particularly out of control turnover on a fourth quarter fast break with hardly any defensive pressure on him.

D'Antoni has done a wonderful job getting this Knicks team to play hard, play as a team, and yes, play a bit over their heads for a good part of the season. Occasionally they've gotten crushed, and they've lost some heartbreakers to good teams (Mavericks, Lakers) as well, but they've put forth a good effort in most games and been competitive enough to make talk of the playoffs a reasonable consideration.

Games like this, however, make you start to think that the lottery is the most realistic outcome of this season -- reinforcements like Gallinari and Curry aren't going to address the team's glaring issues on defense. The real issue, though, is how well the team can maintain its positive mental approach and execute D'Antoni's system in the face of continued physical limitations and the adjustment of opposing defenses. As Duhon noted after the game, the team has been in a definite funk for several games.

The Knicks are hardly the only team to go through arid spells in the course of an NBA season, but the trend line is alarming the last week and a half (save the second half of the Suns game and all of the Lakers game). Playing two atrocious games after long breaks doesn't speak well for the team's mental state, and I'm curious to see how Coach D handles this latest slide, which strikes me as the biggest test of his coaching abilities thus far this season.