Kris, thanks! Your post was like cold water in my face. You are absolutely correct. There was a stretch last night in the fourth quater, when we came back from 10 points down to forge ahead by one, that the Spurs looked like the Spurs of yesterday. So we didn't maintain the lead. Kobe doesn't play on every team we play. Kobe doesn't usually make 12 of 19 shots. He makes 12 of 29! And that means many of those misses are rebounded by the Spurs and we back to other way.
All this is to say, we lose 20 to 25 games every year. Some are ugly as . We win 58 to 60 games every year as well. Many of those wins we never should have had. When Avery made that jump shot in 1999, the 8th seeded Knicks were THAT close to winning that game. Eighth-seeded!
We'll come back. If Pop didn't go after Webber nor Maggette, it's because he still believes this team can win, and is better without them.
When everyone is back, healthy, and our confidence is just a hair better than it is now, we'll be there at the end.
Phil Jackson was right last night when he said "we caught the Spurs when their shots weren't going down, when they were down a bit. This won't happen too many times."
He's right.
Relax. And have faith in our team