NEW YORK — There is no avoiding reality when your locker stall happens to be right next to where the NBA standings are posted at the MSG Training Center. And for Al Harrington, seeing the New York Knicks near the bottom of the list was a constant reminder of how awful their start has been this season.

That is until recently, when he realized the gap between the Knicks and the all-important eighth seed wasn’t all that large. And after Monday night’s 93-84 win over the undermanned Trail Blazers at Madison Square Garden, the streaking Knicks have an opportunity to turn what was a brutal beginning into a December to remember.
“I think we’re starting to get a great momentum, and if we can keep it going, we’ve got a chance,” Harrington said. “We’ve got some winnable games coming up.”
That would be six straight games against opponents with sub-.500 records — two games each against the Bobcats and Bulls and one each against the Hornets and Clippers. That would be make-or-break time for the Knicks (7-15), who have won four of five this month, including the last three.
“Historically, in the East the last few years by the All-Star break, you go, ’Holy crap, we’ve still got a chance,”” said Mike D’Antoni, whose team is 6-6 since a 1-9 start. “That’s kind of how it’s been.”
After the Knicks outscored the Trail Blazers 60-37 in the middle two quarters, Monday night appeared to be shaping up as a big win, but the Knicks saw their 23-point fourth-quarter lead sliced to nine with 6:23 remaining as the Blazers scored 14 straight points. But Danilo Gallinari drilled a straightaway three-pointer — “Right when we’re dead in the water,” D’Antoni said — to stop an 0-for-10 drought by the Knicks.
Larry Hughes then converted a turnover by Jerryd Bayless into a three-point play to make it 86-71 with 5:40 to go.
Hughes scored 21 points, David Lee had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Gallinari and Wilson Chandler each had 14 points for the Knicks. Chris Duhon added nine assists.
Though he wasn’t a statistical standout, Jared Jeffries played a very effective 22:51, most of which was notable on defense. Jeffries blocked two shots, had two steals and drew two offensive charges in the second quarter.
“All that stuff, I think you don’t really see, but as a coach, it’s really important,” D’Antoni said. “You can’t have a good defense unless you have guys that do that. And he does it.”
Brandon Roy had 27 points for the injury-riddled Blazers (13-9), who lost center Greg Oden (left patellar fracture) last week and faced the Knicks with only nine healthy players. Portland was without key rotation players Oden, Travis Outlaw, Nicolas Batum and Rudy Fernandez.
The Blazers even were without coach Nate McMillan, who was back in Portland for surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon. The Blazers were so shorthanded that McMillan and assistant coach Monty Williams (a former Knick) participated in Friday’s practice, and that’s when McMillan suffered the injury.
D’Antoni, who has developed a friendly relationship with McMillan from their experience as assistant coaches for USA Basketball, laughed about it. “Nate maybe needs to hang ’em up,” he joked.
He didn’t quite say that about another Nate — as in Robinson — but when asked if the Knicks’ ebullient little guard might see an end to his streak of DNP-CDs, D’Antoni cracked: “I don’t know. It depends if people want him to or not.”
For the record, there were no “We Want Nate” chants Monday night. And he didn’t play again.
The game was, however, a showcase opportunity for two potential Knicks targets: Bayless, an athletic combo guard who is rumored to be available and tied a season high with 14 points in 17 minutes, and playmaker Steve Blake (nine points, five assists), who will be one of the top point guards available in 2010 free agency.