Last night, the Knicks' seven-game winning streak came to a halt as they lost to the Hornets 89-85 at the Garden. Here's a look at some Knicks news as they get set to take on Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks tomorrow afternoon..
- The Knicks aren't concerned about J.R. Smith's past off-the-court troubles, writes Christopher Hunt of ESPNNewYork.com. “We did our due diligence on this and we had people that had, let’s say, inside personal experience with J.R. and they all came out in favor of this move,” Knicks interim general manager Glen Grunwald said.
- Grunwald hopes to keep Smith beyond 2012 and is hopeful that it will be more than a "one-year run" for the guard in New York, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
- In the same piece, Berman notes that the Knicks might now be faced with a good problem in that they will have too much depth. Rookie power forward Josh Harrellson returns after the All-Star Break from a fractured wrist and point guard Baron Davis is set to debut.
- With the emergence of Jeremy Lin and the addition of Smith, Grunwald believes that New York is in position to contend, writes Berman.