But the genesis of this small ray of light actually began on Thanksgiving.

In Denver for the (Thanksgiving holiday, the Knicks’ players gathered in a restaurant at the Ritz Carlton. It wasn’t meant to be a team powwow, just a chance to get some decent food.

But the quest for food turned into an exercise in chemistry building, as the players watched football, talked trash, played cards, and rapped about having fun on the basketball court. No coaches were present. The Knicks lost their next two games, but gained confidence after playing well against contenders Denver and Orlando.

Then they won four of their next five games, including Monday’s 93-84 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers that pushed their season-long win streak to three.

“It really started in Denver,’’ said Duhon, who had a game-high 9 assists against Portland. “We sat down as a team, by ourselves, and got a lot of things off our chests. We talked about what we need to do to win, about being more relaxed. It was the first time in my two years here that we did something as a team where all the players were together.

K22 wrote:

joec32033 wrote:What I want to know is did they let Nate get up from the kiddie table.....?

Dammit, joe, you beat me to it.