[Jack.Kerr]

So Dolan is having Madison Square Garden security personnel eject fans who yell at Isiah, or hold up signs suggesting that he be fired. Two thoughts come to mind:

1) What if EVERYONE in the arena brought a sign?

2) What if NO ONE showed up?

Just a matter of time, folks. I mean, they had MIKE FREAKIN' DUNLEAVY doin' a Jordan on 'em. Think about it.

Pacers 119, Knicks 92
Thomas’s Criticism Caps Knicks’ Ugly Night



Do you know this fan? A fan at Madison Square Garden expressed his displeasure with Knicks Coach Isiah Thomas and was escorted from the arena. The New York Times would like to talk to this fan. E-Mail the Sports Editor at sports@nytimes.com.

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By HOWARD BECK
Published: December 18, 2007

Isiah Thomas seemingly has a built-in mute button that self-activates every time he feels the impulse to blast his players. The device either went dead or shorted out Monday night after Thomas again watched his team collapse.

The Indiana Pacers decked the Knicks, 119-92, at Madison Square Garden. Then, Thomas, who recently said his team needed more love, not tongue-lashings, threw the mightiest blow.

He questioned the Knicks’ heart, their grit and their pride and, by implication, every other macho trait that professional athletes hold dear. In the process, Thomas also distanced himself from his players.

“There are a lot of things that can be said about me and teams that I’ve coached and the way I played, but I’ve never been accused of not having heart or competing,” Thomas said. “And tonight was very discouraging to me because we didn’t collectively play with heart and compete like I know I do.”

This was a difficult point to argue after the Pacers (13-12) outscored the Knicks by 55-28 over the final 17 minutes 51 seconds. The score was tied at 64-64 midway through the third quarter when the Knicks (7-17) inexplicably collapsed.

“We don’t have the grit to sustain a run,” Thomas said during a six-minute postgame news conference devoted entirely to these themes. “A team makes a run at us and collectively we just cave. We just give in.”

Thomas later concluded, “I can give you a lot of things, but I can’t give you pride and heart.” He said he looked forward to the day when the questions would be about what he did wrong strategically, and not “about heart and courage.”

It was a scathing indictment of a roster that Thomas, as team president, assembled himself. He declined to say whether personnel changes were needed, but left open the possibility of a lineup shuffle.

“Clearly, we have to do some things different,” he said. “So yeah, everything’s up in the air.”

Eddy Curry, whose 16 points were nearly offset by foul trouble and 7 turnovers, politely disagreed with his coach’s assessment.

“I don’t think we’re lacking heart in any kind of way,” Curry said. “I think every single guy on this team has heart.”

He added, “We’re going to bounce back, and we’ll start winning some games here.”

It will have to start with some appearance of defense. The Pacers shot 58.3 percent Monday and became the fifth team to beat the Knicks by 20 or more points. The rangy forward Mike Dunleavy scored a career-high 36 points to lead the resurgent Pacers, who also got 22 points from Jermaine O’Neal.

Stephon Marbury — a little thinner and still coping with the death of his father — returned to the Knicks after a four-game absence. He played off the bench, logged 30 minutes and finished with 16 points. Zach Randolph led the Knicks with 28 points, with only 6 in the second half, and 9 rebounds.

The Knicks trailed by 12 in the first half, pulled even at 64-64 in the third quarter, then fell behind by 12 again before the period was over. Dunleavy scored 14 straight points as Indiana took the lead for good. He either scored or assisted on the Pacers’ last 18 points of the period.

By then, the boos and the “Fire Isiah” chants were at full throttle. It did not help the crowd’s mood when the Knicks City Dancers were prevented from doing their routine between the final two quarters. Officials had to hold up the intermission while reviewing replays of a foul at the third-quarter buzzer. By the time it was all sorted out, there was no time for the dancers.

There was already a strange air to the evening. Before the game, a number of Pacers were buzzing about a report that Curry had guaranteed a Knicks victory. The only problem was that it was not true. It was not entirely clear where the report came from or how it got circulated, although it was possibly the result of a reporter’s sarcastic joke at the Knicks’ morning shootaround.

Curry possesses no such braggadocio, but the Pacers believed it. “It was mentioned,” Dunleavy said. “It kind of perks you up a little bit.”

O’Neal, who played for Thomas earlier in his career and remains fiercely loyal to him, said Thomas was not to blame and should not be fired.

“It’s up to the players,” O’Neal said. “Whoever comes in or whatever the situation is, they’re still going to have the same problem. They have a lot of talent over there, guys who can do things individually. But as we know, talent doesn’t always win games. It takes a team to win games in this league. It’s sad to see the fans think it’s Isiah’s fault.”

REBOUNDS

Spike Lee spent the worst part of the Knicks’ season away from the Garden and safely out of broadcast range. Lee, a season-ticket holder, recently returned from Italy, where he spent five months working on “Miracle at St. Anna,” a World War II drama. That is not to say, however, that he was immune from the Knicks’ misery. He checked scores regularly on his Blackberry. “Oh, that Boston game hurt me,” Lee said with a chuckle, referring to the Knicks’ 45-point loss. “They’ll be all right,” he said. “You look at the standings in the Atlantic Division, only two teams are over .500. We’ve got three-quarters of a season left.”