I've made this point on Twitter and a couple of forums -- are there any other teams this season that have combined their best win of the season with their worst loss of the season in a single week...two weeks in a row?

On Sunday the 4th of January, the Knicks beat the Celtics 100-88...and followed that two days later with a loss to the (at the time) four win Thunder.

On Monday the 12th of January, the Knicks beat the Hornets, 101-95, a win that was in some ways even more impressive and unexpected than the Celtic win. They then came home and squeaked out a win against the seven win Wizards at home, but at the end of the week, lost to the same hapless Wizards after having control of the game for most of the second half on a gut-wrenching 15-0 run at the very end. Most Knick fans agree that as bad as the loss to the Thunder was, the loss to the Wizards was much worse.

This week, the Knicks have had two solid wins against the Bulls and the Suns, and can cap off a good homestand with a win against a Grizzlies team that has lost 15 of 17 games. Does this look like the mother of all trap games, or what?

The Grizzlies just fired coach Marc Iavaroni; though I felt (as a casual observer) that it is hard to blame the coach when he had such a raw collection of parts to work with, the team has apparently looked especially lackluster during the losing streak, and it was felt that the coach had lost the team, and a change was needed.

I actually considered the Grizzlies the classic League Pass team early in the season -- young, flawed, and missing several pieces, but with enticing young talent that made their games entertaining. I enjoyed watching O.J. Mayo play the few times I saw him, and players like Arthur, Warrick and Gasol have all had their moments.

The last Grizzlies game I watched (an overtime loss to the Spurs), the Grizz were extremely competitive, and Gasol actually outplayed Duncan down the stretch. I also watched the Grizzlies dismantle the Miami Heat in December, with Mayo outplaying Wade. I do think the Grizzlies can beat the Knicks if the Knicks choose to take the game lightly, and the team will certainly be jolted by the firing of their coach.

Point guard has been a season long problem for the Grizzlies, however, and when things go badly, the team (like many young teams) tends to hang their heads and play very sloppily and individually. The Grizzlies are a middling team defensively (ranked similarly to the Knicks), but are dreadful in terms of offensive efficiency (only the Thunder and Clippers are worse). The Grizzlies do well in forcing turnovers, so the Knicks will have to be sure to take care of the ball.

This quote by Gasol from Marc Stein's story on the Iavaroni firing was telling:

"We don't have an identity," rookie center Marc Gasol told the newspaper. "We don't have one. We run around like chickens with our heads cut off. Youth can be a good thing, but we use it as an excuse.

"We're always making excuses. We make excuses to the referees and to our teammates. We make excuses in practice. That's all some people want to do is make excuses. You're never going to get anywhere like that."

I'm sure the Knick coaching staff will be very hard on the players about not having the same types of lapses they suffered in their previous horrific losses surrounding big wins.

Not that I'm looking for bad omens or anything, but I wondered why I felt uneasy about tonight's game, beyond the factors mentioned here. Then I realized it was Friday, and the Knicks have had some ugly losses on Friday nights (certainly, they've stuck in my head) -- the aforementioned loss to the Wizards, a heartbreaking loss to the Pacers on Jarrett Jack's buzzer beater, two double digit, lackluster losses to the Bucks, and an equally lackluster loss to the Timberwolves at the Garden.

The Knicks' only two wins on Friday nights were in November against the Wizards and OKC. Let's make the Grizzlies win number three.