Magic 105, Knicks 90

After watching back to back blowout losses at home to Milwaukee and Orlando — the latter coming into MSG on the heels of a 3 game road losing streak — Larry Brown has to be very pleased he has a long term contract. Any other NBA coach whose club so completely quit down the stretch would have a hard time continuously blaming his lineup (though if you look at what Brown has to work with, the genius that brought in Jerome James and Quentin Richardson should also be looking for work).

Much as I respect the Knicks’ altruistic efforts on behalf of the Cheers For Children charity , the ongoing telethon is really stretching the boundaries of the fantastic. Perhaps, in my wildest imagination, I can believe there’s a person willing to pay $15,000.00 to have lunch with Isiah Thomas. But $350 for an autographed Quentin Richardson basketball has to be a hoax — perhaps Mike D’Antoni is into prank calls.

When New York is being blown out by a poor Orlando side, perhaps that isn’t the best time for MSG to run the commercial where Turtle from “Entourage” says of Nate Robinson, “see him jump, you’ll swear a man can fly.” On the other hand, it also isn’t a great time to run the spot where Spike Lee asks the cardboard cut-out of Larry Brown “are we gonna play defense this year? Larry?”

The cardboard cut-out of Brown is less likely to blame Isiah Thomas, I’ll give him that.