After losses earlier in the season, the Knicks would sometimes say that they just needed more time to develop chemistry on the court.
After 42 games, that explanation is no longer valid.
"F--k that, nah, f--k that. The time is now," veteran forward Marcus Morris said following New York's 23-point loss to Phoenix on Thursday. "?. I mean at some point we as a team, you know what I mean, (we) have to pull together. We've been around each other for a long time. Everybody knows each other's game.
"? It doesn't have to do anything with new faces. We did that in the beginning, talked about that in the beginning. As a team we have to pull together, got to know what we're looking for, know the game plan, execute the game plan and just give ourselves a chance to win."
The Knicks didn't do much of that in the final three quarters of their loss to the Suns. They were outscored by 30 points after the first quarter. Morris and interim head coach Mike Miller felt that New York failed to play with enough effort on Thursday.
"Our energy level is not where it's supposed to be. X's and O's, at the end of the day, they only go so far. Our energy level just hasn't been where it needs to be," Morris said. "Being together, we're halfway through the season, you would expect us to be more together out there and more tighter. I just think at times we're pulling apart when we should be bringing it together."
"Kudos to Phoenix," Morris added. "But at the end of the day we were a better team. We should have got that win tonight."