So when the night began, the biggest concern among myriad Knicks problems was an apparent over-reliance on individual talent and a drift away from team concepts, playing the right way. Players voiced that worry.
Well, No. 1 on the worry chart changed before the opening tap.
The Knicks were without Derrick Rose, and no one said why or how or anything, other than he was not with the team. So if you wanted intrigue for Monday’s boo-laden 110-96 destruction by the Pelicans at the Garden, the Knicks’ eighth defeat in nine games, you certainly got it before the opening tip.