After seeing off the Charlotte Hornets, the Boston Celtics had no time to catch their breath before facing the New York Knicks on the second night of a back-to-back.
The New York Knicks had been an utter disaster this season. So far, they had managed only 4 wins while suffering as many as 20 losses, a dreadful record that firmly planted them at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
What had driven the New York Knicks into such a predicament? The answer was not difficult to find.
During this summer's offseason, the New York Knicks made a series of attention-grabbing decisions. They first brought in the Zen Master, Phil Jackson, as the team's general manager, then hired Derek Fisher as head coach.
For the New York Knicks, the past several seasons had seen them spare no expense in building star-studded rosters. One moment, they assembled a Big Three; the next, a Big Four; they had even tried to build a Big Five. Yet none of it had produced the results they wanted.
Under those circumstances, the team's upper management began to wonder whether the problem lay with the front office.
After careful consideration, they decided to bring in the legendary coach Phil Jackson, hoping he could turn things around with his outstanding coaching ability and wealth of experience.
After all, throughout Phil Jackson's illustrious coaching career, he had achieved tremendous success with both the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers.
What he was best known for was the Triangle Offense, a system he had wielded to perfection with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.
Now that he had come to the New York Knicks, things seemed as though they should be no different.
After all, the New York Knicks still had a supremely talented superstar—Carmelo Anthony.
With a