At the halfway point and in their first-game after the All-Star Break, the Knicks knocked out their 24th win of the season against Orlando last night, 100-94, thus eclipsing last year’s woeful 23-59 full-season record under Larry Brown. I haven’t been posting about them much, but thanks to the magic of TiVo I’ve watched a lot of games this year, and there are definitely causes for hope among the Knicks nation, even if there’s not much chance of a serious playoff run, or even a playoff spot, this year. No, I haven’t climbed aboard the Isiah bandwagon, and I think we’d be better if he was gone from the Garden next year. But, in the emergence of Eddy Curry as a semi-consistent offensive force in the post, and the solid play of the second-years — most notably rookie/sophomore game MVP David Lee, who leads the league in shooting percentage and is a prime candidate for six-man of the year, the Knicks have a foundation to build on for the first time in a good long while. Let’s just hope Isiah doesn’t make any more panic trades that lock us in with overpriced underperformers — see Steve Francis, Jerome James, Jalen Rose, Penny Hardaway, Antonio McDyess, Vin Baker, Glenn Rice, Luc Longley, Shandon Anderson, Howard Eisley, all since Patrick left in 2000 — for the next 4-6 years.