After seven games of futility, the Knicks finally played a solid game and took a much-needed wire to wire win over the Timberwolves. Outside of a horrid third quarter which saw the Wolves outscore them 31-22 and pull within 1 point, the Knicks were wholly dominant with the backcourt hitting their shots, Chandler making Kevin Love’s life miserable, and Melo being the usual scoring machine. The entire starting lineup of Melo (33 pts), Stoudemire (18 pts), Chandler (15 pts), JR (14 pts) and Felton (18 points) hit double figures for only the second time this year.
Speaking of Felton, he arguably had his best game of the year, adding 8 assists, 4 steals in completely outplaying Ricky Rubio (11 pts, 8 assists, 6 turnovers).
Knicks fans also got a second look at Kevin Love, who will undoubtedly be a free agent target in 2015. The Wolves big man had 19 points and 8 rebounds, but was a liability on defense, giving up repeated Chandler alley oops and other easy buckets inside. Chandler seemed to relish matching up with Love, even going as far in his halftime interview to say Love doesn’t play any defense. K-Love would definitely be an asset in New York, but pairing him with Melo might not be the best idea unless there is a strong defensive center added to the mix.
The Knicks have the Utah Jazz tonight in another “must-win” with just 20 games left.
********************************
NEW YORK KNICKS LOYALIST 