I couldn’t write about this game on Saturday because I was too pissed off. If there was ever a game that was an indictment on how bad our defense is, it would be this loss to the Raptors last Saturday.
If you would have told me going in that Carmelo Anthony would have 31 points with Derrick Rose and Kristaps Porzingis adding 21 points apiece, I would have supreme confidence the Knicks would enjoy a blowout win.
Alas, you don’t get easy wins when you statistically have the worst defense in the league. The Knicks couldn’t defend the pick and roll in crunch time, allowing Kyle Lowry several clear drives to the rim to ice the game in the final minutes. Maybe it wouldn’t have gotten to that point if the Knicks could play defense without fouling — the Raptors got 38 free throw attempts to the Knicks’ 16. New York also allowed 20 points in transition.
The verdict is clear nine games into the season. If the Knicks can ever salvage themselves to play adequate defense, they make the playoffs with a decent seeding. If not, we’ll have another extremely disappointing year in the books.
BOSTON — Nobody told the Knicks tonight’s game was 8 on 5. A second quarter ejection, 6 tehcnical fouls and uneven officiating throughout the game helped demoralize the Knicks as they dropped a disappointing game to the Celtics.
WEATHERING THE STORM: The Celtics came in determined to snap their three-game losing streak. Led by Isaiah Thomas (29 points, 23 in the first half), the Celtics were hot from long-range and held a 31-27 lead after the first. Carmelo Anthony kept New York in it with his offense, scoring 12 points in 12 minutes. And during his early second quarter rest, Hernangomez (8 points, 12 rebounds) played well as the first big off the bench. Particularly effective was the Knicks nabbing 14 offensive rebounds in the first half.
Then, disaster struck…
THE EJECTION: The game was heating up in the second when Melo was call for dubious loose ball foul. Melo complained vehemently and earned his first tech. He walked away but made sure referee Tony Brothers was within earshot to hear his displeasure. Whatever Melo said was enough to earn his second technical.
The ejection couldn’t have come at a worst time since the Knicks had slashed the deficit to six. Boston promptly went on a 9-0 run and later extended the run to 17-3.
The Knicks were lucky to only be down 61-51 at halftime.
NO MELO, NO CHANCE: Knick fans remember that last year’s team couldn’t muster a win without Melo. Tonight was no different. Porzingis (5-15, 14 points) was frustrated by the physical play of Marcus Smart and never truly got in rhythm. Derrick Rose (3-10, 11 points, 7 turnovers) had a few decent drives in the first half, but ultimately his turnovers and erratic shooting eliminated any comeback hopes.
Compounding the problems was the lopsided foul calling and bad shooting. The Celtics got 43 free throws to Knicks’s 17. New York only managed 39% from the field and 25 turnovers. With those numbers, you can forget winning on the road.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY: The Celtics were without Jae Crowder and Al Horford. With the red-hot Raptors on the schedule tomorrow, the Knicks are in danger of being three games under .500 by Sunday.
WHY DO THE REFS HATE US?: Do we have a bad reputation around the league? The sheer amount of foul calls (and techs) on us is now becoming very alarming. The Knicks aren’t allowed the same physicality as other teams. I’m speculating, but I think we have a reputation as complainers among the officials (hence no calls).
Nonetheless, the Knicks have to learn to channel their anger. Good teams don’t let the officials decide their fate.
JENNINGS JOINS MELO: Brandon Jennings had another poor game (1-7, 6 points) and did his best to get tossed in the fourth. The refs obliged him.
The only silver lining is no one lodged big minutes. The squad should be fresh for tomorrow’s important game in Toronto.
What a difference a halftime makes. Coming off the disappointing loss to the Jazz on Sunday, and a tough stretch of games coming against division rivals Boston and Toronto, tonight’s game against the Nets was the proverbial “must-win.” With a 2-4 record, the Knicks couldn’t afford to dig themselves an early hole in the win-loss column. Despite the slow start, a 3rd quarter scoring barrage from Carmelo Anthony (22 points) coupled with excellent passing from Brandon Jennings (11 assists) and offense from Kristaps Porzingis (21 points) powered New York to a 110-96 victory at Madison Square Garden.
TRASH EARLY DEFENSE: We don’t carry the dubious distinction of having the worst defense in the league for nothing. The Nets came out smoking from behind the arc with 5 three pointers in the first and backup Justin Hamilton burning us for 15 points. The Knicks shot an abysmal 28% with Melo’s 0/4 start being the main culprit. Down 29-19 after 12 minutes, the Knicks’s bench was also outscored 16-7.
SLOWLY RIGHTING THE SHIP: The second quarter was sloppy (5 Knick turnovers by the 7:52 mark), but sheer effort pulled New York within striking distance. The ball started moving due to Joakim Noah’s passing, and Melo found his offense by via two three pointers that slashed the deficit to three, 53-50. Although the Nets held the lead at halftime, the Knicks kept the fouling and free throw opportunities in check (7 personal fouls, 9 Net free throws).
MELO’S 14 STRAIGHT: Early on, the third quarter was a mixed bag. Derrick Rose (14 points) scored 6 points to narrow the deficit to 59-58, but then the Knicks had one of their bouts of ineptitude and failed to score for the next three minutes. Brooklyn went on a 8-0 run to extend their lead to 67-58.
Then Melo woke up. His did most of his damage on mid-range jumpers, scoring 14 straight points to get New York a 70-69 lead headed into the fourth.
THE EURO LINEUP: The early fourth quarter lineup is where Coach Hornacek has had issues. But tonight, he staggered the starter minutes to allow Porzingis to run with Jennings, Vujacic, Hernangomez and Kuzmiskas. Sasha kicked off the fourth with a three pointer and would be a +23 despite a two bonehead turnovers. Jennings shot poorly (1-6), but was the arguably the catalyst for this victory with his passing. He found Porzingis twice for open three-pointers and as a trailer on a dunk turned three point play. That capped a 20-7 run that put New York up 92-78 and essentially iced the game.
PROMISING DEVELOPMENTS: Porzingis’ 21 points marked the first time in his career where he’s had three consecutive 20-point games. The scary thing is he still hasn’t developed a go-to move in isolation, so he’s dependent on screens and moving off-ball for his opportunities. If he keeps moving at this pace, those moves will gradually come and he’ll be ready to become the first option on offense within 2-3 years.
Willy Hernangomez had his best game as Knick — 14 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. He excelled with the second unit manned by Jennings and not surprisingly showed great chemistry with old teammate Porzingis. Hernangomez’s skill with the pick and roll gives him immense upside over Kyle O’Quinn when it comes to playing time decisions.
Today’s win marked the first game this season where the Knicks held an opponent under 100 points. Yes, one of Nets’ key pieces in Jeremy Lin wasn’t playing, but business was handled against a team short on talent. After a first half which saw them shoot 55%, the Nets could only manage 41 points in the second half and had a stretch of missing 14 straight shots.
The Knicks are back in action this Friday against the Celtics.
It was all good in the first quarter. Kristaps Porzingis (28 points) was cooking with his shot (4/5) and had 11 points. Carmelo Anthony (28 points) was picking spots and also had a scorching 4/5 start, leading to the duo accounting for 24 of the Knicks’s first 26 points, and a 30-20 first quarter lead.
Then the BS started. The game literally came to a grinding halt in the second quarter. The Knicks could not stop fouling. The Jazz knocked down 15 free throws in the quarter and were only down 54-49 despite shooting 38% from the field and the Knicks 51%. Exacerbating the problem was Porzingis got in foul trouble and had his rhythm broke. He wouldn’t score again until midway through the third quarter.
The Knicks had a scrappy third quarter as the Jazz found their offense. Utah briefly took a 62-60 lead, but a quick Courtney Lee (10 points) three put New York back in front. The Knicks clung to a 80-78 lead headed into the fourth.
The starters fought tooth and nail to hold the lead and had to sit to start the fourth.This proved disastrous as the bench unit couldn’t score and the Jazz promptly reeled off a 9-0 run to start the quarter and go up 87-80.
Then our defensive woes came back to bite us. A couple of strong Derrick Rose (18 points) drives would get the Knicks to within five (100-95), but we couldn’t hold defensively. Either Rodney Hood, who had 10 points in the fourth, would hit a timely three, or the Jazz would find an open mid-range jumper after breaking down our switching defense. The Jazz would have a 36-point fourth quarter and hand New York their second straight defeat at Madison Square Garden.
100 points or more given up in every game this season. This defense is so bad, it makes me long for the days of Mike Woodson and Mike D’Antoni. Seriously, is it that hard to not play defense with your hands? Sure, Hornacek deserves some of the blame, but outside of KP this is a team composed of experienced players. They need to take some pride in fighting over screens and not being so dependent on a switch to bail them out (and in turn create more mismatches). Even the switching under Woodson wasn’t this bad.
Our defense was a godsend for the returning Gordon Hayward, who put up 28 points with HALF of them coming from the free throw line!
We have three days until we face the Nets on Wednesday. Our practices better consist of pick and roll defense drills and fighting over screens.
During halftime of the Knicks’s Friday victory in Chicago, the Bulls put together a classy video tribute to Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. It was well-deserved for two players that gave so much to that organization.
CHICAGO — It was an emotional return for Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, but the former Bulls channeled it into efficient teamwork and ball control to score a much-needed Knicks win at the United Center. Coming off two sub-par losses to Detroit and Houston, New York saw every starter hit double figures and gave fans their first true glimpse of this team’s potential.
RED-HOT START: The Knicks came out with strong ball movement and sharp-shooting from Courtney Lee, who went 5/5 (10 points) in the first as the Knicks jumped out to a 16-point lead. Bulls were powered by Dwyane Wade’s (35 points, 10 rebounds) abnormally hot three-point shooting and offensive rebounding from Taj Gibson. Still, the Knicks held a 32-23 lead after 12 minutes for their best quarter of basketball since the Memphis game.
A SCARE AND RIGHTING THE SHIP: The Knicks’s bench unit couldn’t manage to score even with KP in the lineup. Wade continued hitting threes and Jimmy Butler got to the line, allowing Chicago to take the lead in the final minutes. Although New York was outscored 34-24, a breathtaking half-court lay-up drive from Rose with 4.7 seconds left narrowed the deficit to 56-57 at the half.
PORZINGIS FEASTS: It says something about this game that KP had 27 points and still seemed low-key. He was doing it all over court from threes to running the floor for dunks. The ball moved well and allowed him to exploit mismatches. He got into foul trouble and left the game with around 7 minutes left, but his damage had been done. As Coach Hornacek stated, good things happen when the team gets him involved early. This was an excellent bounce back from the previous game where he had no field goals.
ROSE AND NOAH CLOSE THE SHOW: The Knicks held an 87-84 lead going into the fourth against a Bulls team that refused to go away. KP’s hot shooting sparked a 10-0 run, but his foul departure allowed the Bulls back in it due to Melo’s presence stagnating the ball movement. Three straight bad possessions caused an 8-0 Bulls run that closed the Knicks lead to 98-91.
From there, Rose and Noah caused havoc. Their two-man game got Noah several lay-ups. Rose would nail a tough and-1 lay-up with the shot clock expiring to push the lead to 111-102. And on the next play, a drive and kick for a Melo three would ice the game.
Rose would finish with 15 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds. Noah was equally strong in outplaying Robin Lopez with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
STARTERS STRONG, BUT BENCH STILL WORRISOME: The starting five put in work. Aside from those already mentioned, Melo added 25 points and Lee 17. But our bench could only manage 17 points. Horacek will have to continue being creative with the lineups to prevent scoring droughts.
The Knicks are back home on Sunday to face the Jazz.
D-E-F-E-N-S-E. What does that spell, ladies and gentleman? If you’re a Knicks player, you couldn’t spell nor understand the concept as the Pistons torched them from three-point land and dropped the Knicks to 0-2 on the road. Considering this was the first of a three games in four nights stretch, this defeat is extremely disappointing against the “easiest” team paper.
OPEN SHOTS: At one point last in the first half, the Pistons were shooting 59% from the field. Marcus Morris seemed on pace for a career night with 16 points on 7/9 shooting, and repeatedly made Melo look slow and old on the defensive end. Melo was efficient on the scoring end with 14 points, but the lack of defense made it essentially trading baskets with Pistons going up at one point by 13 due to the second unit not being able to score.
FRONTCOURT DOMINANCE SANS DRUMMOND: Coming into last night, the main concern was containing Andre Drummond, who on a good night can have a 20-20 game. In that regard, Joakim Noah (2 points, 12 rebounds, 8 assists) did a fantastic job holding him to 9 points (Drummond did manage 13 rebounds). The problem was due to Noah not being able to slack off Drummond, Tobias Harris and Morris (22 points) went off. The former had 25 points on 8/12 shooting, which is a big indictment on how bad Porzingis and Lance Thomas guarded him. Harris had way too many easy looks at the rim. Overall, the Pistons outscored the Knicks 50-32 in the paint.
RANDOM BIG NIGHT: If you’re looking for an x-factor, it was Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. He nailed four treys and delivered 19 points. Once again, the Knicks failing to close out adequately on shooters was a huge issue.
CLOSING WITH A WHIMPER: Despite how bad we looked for three quarters, the Knicks were right there in the fourth down 89-92 with nearly six minutes left. From there we had two bad iso situations with Rose and Melo, and would not have a field goal the rest of the game.
BAD LINEUPS: Because we’re playing Houston tonight, I understand Hornacek was trying lineups that would preserve our starters. The problem was the guys he selected for big minutes, like Lance Thomas (1-6 in 26 minutes), couldn’t produce. Since our bench is weak when it comes to offense and playmaking, every lineup out there needs to have at least one starter that can score (Melo, Rose or KP). Thomas wasn’t pulled until 3:22 left in the fourth.
We’ll see if home court gets us re-energized for the Rockets.
Late pass on this review, but before tonight’s game against Detroit I had to drop some thoughts on our impressive 111-104 home opener win over the Grizzlies last weekend. After being embarrassed by Cleveland on national TV, I was interested to see how our squad would perform. Although it’s early, the mentality I saw on the court leads me to say with confidence this might be our most mentally strong team since the late 90s.
BLEW THE LEAD, BUT NEVER GAVE IT UP: Despite building a near 20-point lead in the first half, the Grizzlies slowly got themselves back in it by making it a plodding, half-court game where Marc Gasol and others feasted at the foul line. Like Knicks teams in recent years, there was a lot of complaining to the refs (particularly Melo, who earned himself a technical). But unlike our former teams, we held firm and put the game away in the fourth. Rose’s playmaking combined with Noah’s interior defense proved to be the difference maker in the fourth.
KP and Melo = 41 POINTS: We waited all last season for these two to put up big numbers simultaneously. We got it with Porzingis dropping 21 points on an efficient 7/11, and Melo going for 20 despite getting mauled in the paint and refs swallowing their whistles. That is the main reason for his 5/15 field goal performance, but Melo made up for it by going 9/12 in free throws.
NOAH IS OUR HEART AND SOUL: This man was fired up from the opening tip and his energy proved contagious. His post presence was a big factor in holding Gasol to 5/15 from the field, and he cooled off a heating up Zack Randolph in the fourth. His stat sheet (6 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists) shows the versatility Noah brought. His passing was crucial in getting others like Courtney Lee (16 points) off to quick starts.
Barring no serious injuries, it’s hard for me to imagine this team not making the playoffs.
The Knicks celebrated their 70th home season opener with a hard-fought 111-104 victory tonight over the Memphis Grizzlies. Derrick Rose finished with 13 points and provided several dazzling highlights with his drives to the hoop. Unquestionably, the best play featured Rose crossing up Mike Conley. Remember the talk earlier this year about whether we should have made a big money offer for Conley? Haaaaa
Knicks point guard Brandon Jennings has brought some well-needed energy to the Knicks this year. Tonight as New York wrapped its preseason with a win over the Nets, Jennings had a little fun at Brooklyn’s expense as seen with the below post-jumper celebration.
Considering Jennings’ recent shooting woes (27% from the field going into tonight’s game), I’d do a little dance after EVERY basket.
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![[Video] Taken Out By the Refs: Knicks 87, Celtics 115](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/15016432_549597978569485_6079700587750509221_o.jpg?w=825&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] 2nd Half Lockdown: Knicks Come Alive, Take Down Nets 110-96](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/melo_nets.jpg?w=825&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Watch the Chicago Bulls Tribute to Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/rose_noah_welcomeback.png?w=825&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Wasted Opportunities: Pistons 102, Knicks 89](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/knicks_pistons.jpg?w=750&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Opening Night Statement: Knicks’ Team Effort Holds Off Grizzlies](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/noah_knicks.jpg?w=625&h=352&crop=1)
![[Video] Watch Derrick Rose Cross Up Mike Conley](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/14884506_695234807308673_2862188250418012935_o.jpg?w=666&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Shimmy Shimmy Ya: Brandon Jennings Has a Little Fun in Brooklyn](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/brandon_jennings_knicks.png?w=825&h=510&crop=1)
NEW YORK KNICKS LOYALIST 