WASHINGTON _ The Knicks probably are relieved that January is over, but more performances like Tuesday night and their season may not be too far behind.
Showing none of the passion or fight they displayed in their quadruple-overtime loss to the Hawks on Sunday, the Knicks trailed by as much as 21 points and were drubbed, 117-101, by the Wizards.
Coming into January, the Knicks talked about how critical the month would be for them. They went 5-12, and are now a season-worst eight games below .500, at 21-29.
Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 26 points. Brandon Jennings had 21 and Willy Hernangomez finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds in his first NBA start.
Hernangomez started for Kristaps Porzingis, who was a late scratch because of a stomach illness. Coach Jeff Hornacek said Porzingis was vomiting before the game but was going to try to play. When he went to warm up he felt sick again. The Knicks already were without Derrick Rose for the second straight game because of a sprained left ankle. Hornacek expects Rose to miss Wednesday's game in Brooklyn too.
"Maybe that four overtime got us, we just didn't look like we had any energy," Hornacek said. "It was a tough night. Every guy that went out there didn't look like he had great energy."
For the Wizards (28-20), it was their 15th straight home win. Six players scored in double figures, paced by Bradley Beal's 28 points. Markieff Morris had 24 points and 10 rebounds, and All-Star guard John Wall had 15 points and 13 assists.
The Wizards took control of the game with a 16-2 run to start the third quarter that put the Knicks in a 19-point hole. They closed to 97-84 with 9:04 left in the game. But the Knicks gave up a layup and a 3-pointer on the Wizards' next two trips that made it 102-84.
Hornacek reinserted Anthony a little later, hoping the Knicks had a run in them. They didn't. After a Kyle O'Quinn basket in transition, the Wizards scored on two straight trips and pulled ahead 106-86 with 5:45 remaining. Anthony was removed about a minute later.
Anthony had another hot shooting first half and kept the Knicks in the game by going 7-for-11 for 17 points. He air-balled a 3-pointer just before the half ended. But Ron Baker caught it and tapped it in to beat the buzzer and bring the Knicks within 59-54.
The Knicks led by eight points early in the first quarter, but they had their usual defensive difficulties. They couldn't stop Wall, who had 15 points and nine assists by halftime.
The Wizards scored 51 points over the last 17:46 of the first half and shot 20-for-34 during that time. Their sloppiness, though, prevented them from having a bigger lead. Washington turned it over seven times in the second quarter.
But the Wizards created separation in the third as the Knicks continued to be slow and out of position defensively.
They allowed the Wizards to make seven of their first nine shots and open up a 75-56 lead with 7:32 left in the third. The Knicks never got it under 13 for the rest of the period and were down 91-76 entering the fourth.
Carmelo backs LeBron. Anthony, who has taken umbrage with some things Charles Barkley has said about him over the years, defended his pal LeBron James after he ripped the TNT analyst in an interview with ESPN.com.
"At the end of the day, I think he's human," Anthony said. "We all are human. Even though we are considered these kind of superheroes, super athletes, and nothing is supposed to affect us and we just go through life just taking it on the chin, it affects us in certain ways.
"I think in his situation, maybe he just got tired of kind of just hearing it from that particular person."
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