For the Knicks, Excellent Starts Have Proved to Be Good Omens The Knicks" surprising start has naturally evoked curiosity about the club's best beginning ever. Using a perfect record as the measurement, the nod goes to the 1993-94 season, when Pat Riley guided the team to a 7-0 start on the way to a 57-25 finish. That record clinched first place in the Atlantic Division, and with Michael Jordan off playing baseball, the Knicks also had a clear path to the N.B.A. finals. They took it, eliminating the Nets, the Chicago Bulls and the Indiana Pacers on their way to a championship showdown with Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets. Riley's team - built around Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, John Starks, Anthony Mason and Derek Harper - took a 3-2 lead before dropping Games 6 and 7 in Houston. The Knicks have never come as close to a title since. Actually, the Knicks" most impressive start to a season - if you are willing to look past an early defeat - came in the 1969-70 season, when they won their first five games, lost at home to the San Francisco Warriors and then reeled off 18 straight victories, an N.B.A. record at the time, to stand atop the league at 23-1 as November drew toward a close. That team became the first Knicks club to win an N.B.A. championship. It featured Willis Reed, Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere, Dick Barnett, Cazzie Russell, Dave Stallworth and Mike Riordan (Phil Jackson was injured). The coach was Red Holzman. They finished with a 60-22 record, the best mark in the team's history. It has been matched only one time since then - by Riley's 1992-93 club, which made it to the Eastern Conference finals before losing, to, you guessed it, Jordan and the Bulls. The 1969-70 team was exquisitely balanced, with six players - Reed, Frazier, Bradley, DeBusschere, Barnett and Russell - averaging in double figures, led by Reed's 21.7 points per game. They opened the season with a victory over Seattle, beat Oscar Robertson's Cincinnati Royals, then the Chicago Bulls, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns before losing to a Warriors team that went only 30-52 that season. Then came the 18 straight victories, a run that concluded with a come-from-behind victory against a Royals team that included Bob Cousy, who had temporarily come out of retirement to play for the team he coached. In the playoffs, the Knicks outlasted a tough Baltimore Bullets team that included Earl Monroe and Wes Unseld, steamrolled a Milwaukee Bucks team that included a rookie center named Lew Alcindor and then beat the Lakers of Jerry West and Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain in a gut-wrenching seven-game series. Three years later, many of the same Knicks, and Holzman, would win another title, and the franchise has not won another since. And for what it is worth, that team began the season with a 10-1 record. So, note to the current Knicks: keep winning. In New York, great starts seem to lead somewhere. FRIDAY TASK After the Knicks" victory Thursday over the San Antonio Spurs, Carmelo Anthony turned his attention quickly to his Friday task: guarding the Memphis Grizzlies" Zach Randolph, one of the best low-post players in the league. Anthony has played out of his natural position and has moved to power forward. But playing back-to-back nights against DeJuan Blair and Randolph, who each weigh at least each 25 pounds more than Anthony, could take a toll on him. "Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol are a big load down there," Anthony said. We'll make some adjustments. DEFENSE FIRST Grizzlies Coach Lionel Hollins has always believed in focusing on defense more than offense, so he can appreciate the Knicks" ranking as the second-best team in the league in limiting opponents" scoring. "They are committed to it," Hollins said. All these guys have the physical ability to do it. It's just a matter of doing it. I think, watching them play, they are committed to defense. They hustle, they get steals, they block shots. They keep the ball out of the paint. With most teams playing with smaller lineups, Hollins sees the advantage for Coach Mike Woodson. The absence of the injured Amar'e Stoudemire, Hollins said, "allows them to put Carmelo at the power forward position, and now you're quicker." "Your defense is always going to be better when it's quicker," he said. It's not that Amar'e is slow, but they just have four quick guys on the court who can guard.