The effort was much better on Sunday afternoon even as the losing streak hit six with a close loss to the Nuggets. The usual sins were in abundance (porous defense, stagnant ball movement, questionable decision-making in crunch time), but D'Antoni's experimentation with different lineups in an attempt to shake up his team produced many positive signs.

The most glaring sign of change early on was starting Jeffries and Thomas and leaving Harrington and Robinson on the bench. Jeffries, in particular, was made to assume a more versatile defensive role in guarding multiple players, including Billups for various stretches. Ball movement was good with the new lineup early on, and though Jeffries was about as atrocious as you would expect offensively, the team built an early lead and held the Nuggets to 13 points through the first nine minutes.

When Harrington and Robinson entered the game, there was a noticeable drop in ball movement and offensive flow, though they managed to increase the Knick lead to 23-15, before the Nuggets went on a 17-4 run to lead by 5. Over the course of the second quarter, the teams went back and forth, but the Nuggets found increasingly easy ways to score inside, and built their halftime lead to ten with a 39 point quarter.

The Knicks responded with a 33 point third quarter and took the lead at 89-88, setting the stage for an exciting if frustrating fourth quarter, the highlight of which was seven straight points by Duhon to give the Knicks their final lead at 106-105. This is where Carmelo Anthony took over, and the next series of possessions spanning a little over two minutes was telling:

•    Billups dribbles to the top of the key with Anthony setting a high screen. Anthony slips the screen and takes a pass from Billups at the left elbow, going to his left and making a 15 foot jumper over Chandler for a 107-106 lead with 4:30 left.

•    Robinson takes (and misses) a rushed 3 with 14 seconds left on the shot clock.

•    Billups dribbles around another high post screen by Anthony. Robinson goes under the screen instead of fighting over it, and Billups drains a 3 to make it 110-106 with 4:03 left.

•    Robinson gets Nene up in the air on an attempted 3 and draws a foul with his foot on the 3 pt line. He makes both free throws to make it 110-108 with 3:46 left.

•    Billups and Anthony again combine on a high screen play, with Robinson going over the screen effectively this time. Anthony receives a pass around the left elbow again, with Duhon roaming in the lane, but Anthony goes to his left and penetrates slightly deeper than he did the previous possession to convert another jumper over Chandler (with no attempted double from Duhon and 3 seconds left on the shot clock) for a 112-108 lead, 3:23 left in the game.

•    Duhon dribbles to the left of the key, and passes to Robinson with 14 seconds on the shot clock. Nate holds the ball for at least seven seconds, then crosses over and fires a wild 3 pointer over Nene that misses badly. Lee appears to be open in the lane with Billups on him due to Denver switching on every screen, but the ball never gets to Lee.

•    Yet another high screen play involving Billups and Anthony, with Duhon guarding Billups this time and Jeffries on Anthony. This one is defended slightly better, with Duhon going over the screen and Anthony getting the ball further out near the three point line, but this simply gives Anthony more room to blow by Jeffries and drive into the lane for a floater over Lee and Chandler for a 114-108 lead with 2:35 left in the game.

Obviously, a six point lead with two and a half minutes in the game isn’t insurmountable, but the game felt effectively over at that point. Denver’s final basket involved Anthony yet again, and this time Nate was sent to rush Anthony on a double team as he drove toward the basket with Jeffries on him, but Lee didn’t stay home on Nene, and Anthony found him easily for a dunk to seal the game.

Duhon had a solid game with 17 points and 11 assists, and Thomas made good use of his minutes and keyed the Knick comeback in the third quarter. The larger issue remains how to harness the talents of Harrington and Robinson within the overall team concept – D’Antoni has alluded to wanting to get Al back in the starting lineup and get his swagger back, but I think he realizes that Nate is better utilized off the bench. Both players combined to go 1 for 12 in the fourth quarter against the Nuggets, and Harrington in particular has looked lost since the hot stretch that earned him Player of the Week.

Jeffries provided valuable moments on defense and got some garbage buckets, but he was too much of an offensive liability – the Nuggets frequently put a smaller man on him and dared him to post up or drive inside, and I get the sense that D’Antoni would prefer not to play him as much as he did Sunday afternoon.

It’s never fun to lose, and the team still seems to be walking on eggshells a bit with all the losing, but I’m more encouraged than discouraged by the effort against the Nuggets. I’ll be curious to see whether the positives can be carried forward to a very winnable game against an improving Bobcats team Tuesday evening.