Tag: Carmelo Anthony

Comeback Thrwarted: Derrick Rose Game Winner Seals Knicks’ Fate

 

We competed tonight. It says a lot for our club. Now I just need to do a better job getting us through down the stretch. – Mike Woodson

DerrickRose_Knicks_gamewinner

After being dead in the waterfor the most of the game, a Knicks 12-0 run in the fourth quarter allowed them to storm back for a two point lead. But several bad possessions and a missed free throw from Tyson Chandler gave the opening the Bulls needed, as Derrick Rose hit a tough floater to defeat the Knicks 82-81 in the Bulls home-opener.

It was tough loss to swallow, especially considering this is the fifth straight time the Bulls had defeated the Knicks. However, New York showed flashes on succint execution and had a mental toughness to them that was lacking from last year’s squad. Had this been last season, this game would have turned into a blowout in the third quarter, when the Bulls went up by as much as 13 points. Onto the game’s highlights.

FIRST HALF UGLINESS: We know the Bulls pride themselves on defense and that made for an ugly first half of basketball as New York was relegated to contested jumpers. There were repeated bad passes leading to Bulls fast breaks and stupid fouls. Andrea Bargnani, in the span of a few minutes, had 3 offensive fouls. Iman Shumpert also got in three fouls. 13 first half turnovers is normally a death knell, but the Bulls lack of offensive weapons allowed New York to remain close even with just 33 points in 24 minutes.

BARGNANI SHOWS LIFE: After having an abysmal first half, Bargnani came to life in the second hitting multiple jumpers. This was crucial in helping to spread the floor. If the Knicks hope to do any serious damage, Bargnani has to keep hitting those shots.

CHANDLER ON FIRE: Tyson Chandler had an excellent game with 7 points, 19 rebounds, and 4 blocks. He gave our team numerous chances late to pull away, but our offense failed his effort. If he can stay healthy and keep up this intensity, the team will be in good shape. Problem is, the man needs help down low, and Amar’e and Bargnani aren’t the answer.

Some have harped on the missed free throw, but I can’t disparage the man’s performance last night. That free throw was not the sole reason we lost the game — lack of offensive execution in the last two minutes is what did us in.

STAR SLUMP: Neither of the stars of this game, Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose, shot the ball particularly well. Melo went 8-24 (22 points) while Rose shot 7-23 (18 points). But with Rose, all that is forgiven in light on his game-winner. Melo said he got the look he wanted, but I’m not a fan of long jumpshots to win games. Yes, he can hit them (and has), but a quick drive and pull-up was a better percentage shot. Using Rose as an example, he was able to get close to the paint in the same amount of time for his shot. Of couse, Melo isn’t as quick, but he could have got to the to the free throw line at least.

COMEBACK AND LATE EXECUTION: With a little less than 8 minutes remaining, the Knicks were down 66-76. Tim Hardaway Jr. ignited a 12-0 run starting with a three-pointer. Felton hit a three, Melo connected with a short jumper, and a Shumpert offensive reobund and putback dunk put the Knicks in front.

From there it all went bad, as the Knicks offense degraded into Melo isolations. This wasn’t the plan, but Felton’s pick n’ roll attempts were turned back by Chicago as well as the screen attempts. Several possessions that could have given the Knicks breathing room ended with the ball being dumped to Carmelo with less than 8 seconds on the shot clock.

NO PANIC: The loss sucks, but help is coming. JR Smith has three games left on his suspension, and Hardaway Jr. is making a great case to keep up his playing time. The team has the weapons and I’m confident we’ll see a dynamic aquad by mid-season barring injuries.

Knicks Blow 25-pt Lead, Hold Off Bucks 90-83

Shumpert_Bucks_opener

The Knicks got a lesson on the importance of closing out teams last night as they ended up in a seesaw battle in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter in fighting off the Bucks to a 90-83 victory.

After a first half which saw the Knicks dominate defensively (forcing 16 turnovers) for a 56-31 lead (punctuated by a 32-13 second quarter), New York would only score 34 points in the second half while giving up an astounding 33 points in the third quarter! It would have been great for the starters to rest considering the Bulls await them tonight, but this dogfight may just be what the team needed.

STRONG BACKCOURT: Coach Woodson went with the 2 point guard backcourt of Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni. The Knicks caught a big break when Bucks guard Brandon Knight left the game two minutes in with a strained hamstring. Luke Ridnour also didn’t play, ensuring the Bucks offense would be stalled in parts without their point guards. Felton executed several excellent fast breaks off steals and had his jumper working to the tune of 18 points. There was a brief scare with him having to leave the game due to a strained hamstring, but he worked through it.

Prigioni was his usual pest on defense, notching 3 steals and keeping the ball moving with 5 assists. Iman Shumpert started slow (0-3), but began showing the range and even finishing at the rim (a problem for him last year). Shump ended up with 16 points.

FLAT THIRD QUARTER: The Knicks came out very weak. This was an issue last season where the guys just seemed to get unfocused on their rotations. Before you knew the it, the lead went from 18 to 11 to single digits. The stupid fouls contributed to the Bucks getting easy baskets as well. Melo looked to get teammates involved, but several wide-open jumpers were missed and the Bucks continued to surge.

4TH QUARTER SCARE AWAKENS MELO AND CHANDLER: Caron Butler had a solid game for the Bucks (14 points) and managed to tie it with 4:30 remaining off a three-pointer. Milwaukee even took the lead off a John Henson free throw (81-80). From there, Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler were the catalyst for a game-sealing 10-2 run. Prigioni got a steal for a fast break, leading to Melo missing a layup and Chandler putting home a putback dunk. Melo then scored on his next two plays, a tip-in and a post-move, to make it 86-81. Another Chandler dunk made it 88-81 and effectively iced the game. Melo finished with a solid double-double of 19 points (7-16) and 10 rebounds. Chandler added 6 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.

BARGNANI BOOED: Based on this game, the New York faithful won’t have much patience with Andre Bargnani this season. He struggled with his shot and defense for most of the game and finished with 6 points (3-9 shooting) and 2 rebounds off the bench. He was unsure of himself and that’s one thing NY doesn’t tolerate. To be fair, he’s still learning the offense and I’m willing to wait 25 games before pulling out the pitchforks.

BETTER EFFORT NEEDED AGAINST CHICAGO: The Bulls smacked around the Knicks every game last year. NY will have to be much better tonight if they hope to get a win, as Chicago is having their season-opener with Derrick Rose returning. We’ll see how the lineup tweaks work with Amar’e Stoudemire getting burn tonight. Game starts at 8 p.m. ET on TNT.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

[Video] Preason, Game 1 – Knicks 103, Celtics 102: Shump the Sharpshooter, Hardaway Jr.’s Game Winner

“No exhibition games!” – Iman Shumpert

TimHardawayJr

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Aside from a frustrating fourth quarter collapse, there was a lot to like about the new and improved New York Knicks, who kicked off their preseason with a go-ahead corner jumper from Tim Hardaway Jr. to hold off the Celtics 103-102.

Melo took it easy tonight (7 points on 3-8 shooting), but did show some nify two-man game moves with Andrea Bargnani. The latter’s outside shot wasn’t falling (0-3 from downtown), but he did a decent job of getting to the line and keeping the floor spaced.

The offensive star of the game was Iman Shumpert, who was a scorching 7-7 from the floor (3-3 from behind the arc). There was no holding back — Shump was full speed ahead the entire game. If his shooting remains consistent, Coach Woodson would be hard-pressed to keep him out of the starting lineup.

Metta World Peace was a solid contributor last night as well, chipping in 13 points and 4 rebounds. He was one of five Knicks in double figures, including Raymond Felton (11), Hardaway Jr. (16), Shumpert (18) and Bargnani (12).

With the lead up to 23 points with a little over eight minutes remaining, the Knicks bench was emptied and the Celtics went on a run. They briefly took the lead behind Chris Babb scoring 12 points in the quarter.

Thankfully, Hardaway Jr. was also on fire, dropping 10 points in the final stanza. His jumper in the closing seconds put away Boston for good, and shows the Knicks have another capable offensive weapon to help out Melo. Woodson should be giving him as much play as possible to get his confidence strong for the season.

Next up on Friday are the Toronto Raptors.

Melo Reaffirms Knicks Title Hopes, But States the “Window Is Closing…”

Melo_Shump_Knicks

With Carmelo Anthony potentially hitting the free agent market before the 2014-2015 season, everything the Knicks star says about the team will be dissected. In many cases, the dissection will be result in over-analysis, as evidenced by Melo’s recent statement over the weekend at his Queens youth camp that his window for a title is “closing.”

Below is the quote in its entirety courtesy of the New York Post.

My window is closing. I’m trying to bring a championship to New York ASAP.

He clarified that he was not speaking about his specific time with the Knicks, and addressed that he’s not considered the possibility of leaving.

As far as ruling anything out, I haven’t thought about anything beyond today. My mind is not thinking about next offseason right now. I’m trying to do what I do this offseason, get right, work out, train and prepare myself for this season. When that time comes, I’ll deal with that. It’s not something I’m thinking about right now.

New York is the greatest city to play in the world.

I think I’m in better shape than at the Olympics. I’ve been doing what I’m supposed to be doing. At this point, I feel I’m in that [Team] USA shape right now.

******************************************

If this conversation had been held in private, I believe Anthony would have further clarified that the window for this team with himself, Amar’e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler as the focal points is closing. This team is in the last year of a “win-now” 3-year title plan and it’s clear that while the Knicks have definitely improved over the previous 10 years of ineptitude, the organization is still well short of being a title contender. That won’t change until Amar’e’s big contract comes off the books and the team has the ability to sign a legit second option for Melo. The current team was a gamble with Stat’s injury history and unfortunately it didn’t pay off. Nonetheless, unless the team completely crashes and burns this season, it’s difficult to imagine Melo walking away from a team that’s given him the keys to the city and made it clear he’ll have a huge say in determining the new big signings in 2015.

This off-season saw some hopeful additions with Metta World Peace and Andrea Bargnani, and resigning key contributors from last season in JR Smith and Kenyon Martin. Not to mention there’s still a few rosters spots left to strengthen our point guard and center/forward positions. Rest easy, Knicks fans — I think Melo will be with us well past next year.

[Video] New York Knicks: The Top 100 Plays of the 2012-2013 Season

Knicks_Top100

The 2012-2013 season is at an end for the New York Knicks. But that doesn’t mean you can’t relive all the great moments from the last seven months that returned the Knicks to prominence. From our team captains (Melo, Chandler, Stat) to our tough role players, you’ll see plays you vividly remember (like J-Kidd’s four-play against Brooklyn), to others just as spectacular, but forgotten over the course of the year (like Novak and JR smashing on the Spurs). Even if you’re still down about the second round playoff exit, these highlights will undoubtedly bring a smile to your face.

Much respect goes to www.obglobal.net for taking that time to put together this awesome collection. Go there to register and talk Knicks all throughout the off-season.

100-90

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgJJyZBQ8O8&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

************

89-80

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djNaTQJXzcY&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

************

79-70

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjpJBu4ehMc&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

************

69-60

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeoIZLVBHw8&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

************

59-50

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ05TISUQeU&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

************

49-40

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rrzwe4t5Vs&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

************

39-30

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF9VOo-8aI8&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

************

29-20

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTUgIrC4IPA&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

************

19-11

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PDsStMa7Qg&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

*************

TOP 10

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ6eqyREC9w&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

Carmelo Anthony Has Torn Labrum, Surgery Not Likely

Melo_shoulder

An MRI on Wednesday (May 22)  revealed that Carmelo Anthony played the last two months of the season with a partially torn labrum.

Had the injury been a full tear, Anthony would have been required to undergo surgery and a 3-5 month recovery period. The Knicks medical staff is hopeful Anthony can make a full recovery via 3-4 weeks of rest. He will be reevaluated in late July.

Anthony originally suffered the labrum tear during a collision with Indiana Pacer David West during a regular season game on April 14. Anthony played all 12 Knick playoff games before the team was eliminated last week.

Anthony shot 45% during the regular season but saw his efficiency dip to 40% during the playoffs.

***********************************

All things considered, Melo had a great year and one of the best of his career. He secured his first scoring title, lead the Knicks to 54 wins (a first in 13 years) and a decent playoff run. Nonetheless, I believe this injury, and the other ones he suffered throughout the season, is a clear indicator a major change needs to happen regarding Anthony’s “role.”

What role am I speaking of? The one that’s required Anthony to play the power forward position for most of this past season. Melo’s a strong small forward who should only play the four in spots. Banging with bruisers inside like David West on the regular is too much over the long haul of a season. We can only hope Amar’e Stoudemire actually stays healthy for once and pulls his weight at his natural position.

Not In Our House! Knicks Hold Off Elimination to Pacers at MSG

NBA: Playoffs-Indiana Pacers at New York Knicks

Not in our house! Who do you think we are, the Brooklyn Nets? The Knicks dug deep and took advantage of the Pacers missing their point guard George Hill to stay alive with a 85-75 win at Madison Square Garden. The motto is take it one game at a time, and New York made some improvements that we’ll hopefully see in Indiana on Saturday.

 

DEFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTS: It only took us being sent to the brink of elimination for Coach Mike Woodson to realize the constant post double-teaming and defensive switching was a death sentence against Indiana. Chandler didn’t score much (2 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks), but in the first half he played Hibbert straight up and protected the paint. This killed Indy’s ability to find open treys and forced everyone else to become playmakers, resulting in them shooting 27% in the first quarter and 29% for the half.

The Knicks weren’t exactly on fire themselves, but JR Smith was slowly finding his shot (9 points on 3/5 first half shooting) and Melo kept the team in front with 15 first half points. Melo contributed to Roy Hibbert getting in foul trouble which opened up the paint. Unfortunately, he Knicks didn’t close the first and second quarters particularly strong and had to settle for a 40-34  halftimelead.

 

THE DEFINING PLAY: The 3rd quarter looked shaky early on with the Pacers hitting back to back threes to pull within two (42-40). To make matters worse, Tyson Chandler picked up a bad fourth foul sending him to the bench. But from there, Raymond Felton (12 points) came alive and began working smooth pick n’ rolls with K-Mart (7 points) that lead to layups and a key fourth foul on Hibbert. Chris Copeland’s three-point offense lead to some breathing room (53-44) and set the stage for the biggest sequence of the game.

JR Smith turned the ball over leading to a 2-on-1 Indy fast break. DJ Augstin blew the layup, but Paul George recovered on the perimeter and drove right back to the basket to miss his own contested layup.  The Knicks raced back and Felton found Copeland open for a three. He missed, but Felton secured a hard rebound and kicked it to an open JR, who also missed. This time, Copeland snatched the offensive rebound inside and nailed a baby hook to extend the lead to 59-48, the largest of the game for the Knicks to cap a 12-4 run.

From that point on, I felt highly confident the Knicks would keep their poise.

 

COPELAND ARRIVES: After his bad play against the Celtics, Woodson have lost all faith in Copeland. This was the reason he only looked Cope’s way again out of the desperation of avoiding elimination. We saw last night that was probably Woody’s biggest mistake of the series.

The Pacers had been able to focus on Melo and JR since our lineups were composed of guys who weren’t offensive threats (Jason Kidd glaringly stands out). With Cope out there draining threes (13 points, 3/4 from downtown), the floor opened up and it allowed Melo and even JR to work better without multiple Pacers being so quick to collapse on them.

The biggest Copeland moment for me was seeing him barking at Amar’e Stoudemire about a missed defensive assignment. That let everyone know he wasn’t deferring to anyone not pulling their weight.

 

STAT’S CONTRIBUTIONS: Speaking of Stat (2 points, 2 rebounds), it seems most people are realizing there isn’t much he’s going to be able to do unless we make it do the conference finals. It took him close to the 10 games to get back to form in January after the first injury. For now, all I hope for is that he’s not a defensive liability in his limited minutes.

 

JR IMPROVES:  Our Sixth Man of the Year isn’t completely himself yet, but he helped way more than he hurt last night. JR went 4/11 for 13 points.We got a few bad shots, but he kept his head in the game. The public Rihanna dis may be just the wake-up call he needed.

 

MELO THE CLOSER: Melo had 28 points on 12-28 shooting. Not spectacular on paper, but he did what we always want of him, and that’s close the show in the fourth. He went MIA in games three and four, but this time he was an active on both sides of the ball. He took Paul George in the post, drew fouls (a 5th on Hibbert) and hit clutch fadeaways. In addition, he got a jump ball, adding to three consecutive Indy turnovers in crunch time. Over the final 2-3 minutes, the Knicks were able to ice this game behind a 10-4 run.

HOW ABOUT OUR DEFENSE?:  We’ve been hearing all series about Indy’s great D. Last night, the Knicks held them to 36% shooting and 19 turnovers. And remember Woody, all these from minimal double teams and switching!

BRING THAT POISE TO INDIANA: In the huddle, Pacers coach Frank Vogel was heard saying once the game got to around 2-4 points, we would start feeling the pressure. Well, the Pacers were never able to secure the lead, showing that when focused and relying on each other, the Knicks are a match for any team in  this league.

 

A bigger test happens on Saturday when we return to Indiana. We haven’t won there all year, but our chances are very good if George Hill sits again with his concussion. If he plays, the challenge is much more daunting. Either way, the Knicks will have to play again with the passion of knowing their playoff lives are on the line.

Panic Time – Knicks Remain Hapless On Offense (And Defense), Now in 3-1 Hole to Pacers

Melo_Chandler

Carmelo Anthony said before last night’s “must-win” game four that the Knicks would learn a lot about their character. Based on that quote, we’d have to conclude that the Knicks are a bad shooting, whiny,, unfocused and flawed group. Now that is a tad harsh, but Knicks fans the world over are calling for the blood of a bunch of teams members from Coach Woodson on down. After a second abysmal effort, this time resulting in a 93-82 defeat, the Knicks find themselves in a daunting 3-1 deficit  headed back to Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

I won’t sit here and claim to have all the answers, but the glaring concerns I witnessed last night need to be corrected if this team has any shot of extending the series.

 

CAN ANYONE SCORE???: There were omens from the outset that the Knicks were in trouble. Iman Shumpert, trying to help lift the scoring load off Carmelo Anthony, went 1-5 in the first quarter. No one else was in sync and the team was shooting 9% at the seven-minute mark. Our offensive ineptitude negated the six turnovers Indy committed in the opening 12 minutes, allowing them to have a nice 23-16 lead courtesy of a 9-2 run to end the quarter. And while Roy Hibbert wasn’t killing it on offense, he managed to still be a force with 5 rebounds (4 offensive).

 

STOP DOUBLING THE POST: Remember how thrilling the Knicks look when they’re hitting three-pointers? The role has been reversed over the last two games since Coach Woodson has insisted that the Indiana bigs (West, Hibbert) get double-teamed every time they get the ball in the post. They simply pass the ball out, where it’s moved around the perimeter to an open man. For this game, it was George Hill and Lance Stephenson eating off this stupid strategy. Too often we saw the deja vu image of a Knicks guard scrambling to the perimeter too late and the Pacers extending their lead via another open trey.

The Pacer threes, combined with their 30-18 edge in rebounding, allowed them to push their lead to 48-34 at halftime.

Do you think any adjustments were made? Of course not — more doubling in the second half, and more momentum-crushing open threes kept the Knicks subdued for the rest of the game.

 

WHEN OUR FATE WAS SEALED: Despite how bad we looked, the Knicks were able to get within eight early in the fourth behind some much-needed three-point shooting from Chris Copeland. That potential run went to hell when Woody inexplicably benched him to insert Jason Kidd, who literally hasn’t scored a single point in the last month.

So what happened? How about Kidd leaves Lance Stephenson open for a three that pushes the lead back to 11. And on the Pacers next possession, Stephenson makes the driving layup to put the lead at 74-61. You could tell the team’s spirit was broken and the game was essentially over at that point.

 

OFFENSE WOES CONTINUE: JR Smith continued the worst shooting slump of his career, going 1-8 in the first half and 7/22 for the game. Melo had 24 points but on 9/23 shooting and got held scoreless in the fourth before fouling out. Raymond Felton contributed 14 points and did his best to look for his shot.

The team as a whole shot 35% and look demoralized for most of this game. Our three-point shooting, which is essential for this team, was a wretched 8/28 for 28%.

 

CAN WE TURN IT AROUND: The Knicks certainly have the right mix of veterans to come back, but I don’t think they have confidence that they can beat the Pacers. As has been the story all year, the team deflates when faced with tough, physical defenses. With Melo and JR being the only ones who can consistently create their own shots, the Pacers can opt to zero in on them with double teams when they enter the paint, and remain confident they can be contained with man to man defense anywhere else. The other Knicks rarely cut to basket or move off screens, making our offense very predictable when the three-point shot is taken away.

Woody’s stubborn rotations, coupled with bad court leadership from our team captains, has brought us to the brink of elimination. To at least go down fighting, Pablo Prigioni needs to get Kidd’s minutes. Chris Copeland and Steve Novak are defensive liabilities, but at this point our scoring drough is more dire. Play them to space the floor. Dust off Camby and see how he does guarding Hibbert. At the very least, he knows how to box out and block a shot. 

Judgement day is tomorrow, guys. Now it’s really a must-win.

Knicks Light Up Pacers On 36-4 2nd Half Run, Take Game 2 105-79

Shumpert_Pacers

Before game 2 against the Indiana Pacers, Carmelo Anthony said the disappointing game 1 defeat came down to a lack of effort. The Knicks didn’t have that problem last night, as Melo himself dropped 22 second half points, Iman Shumpert was all hustle, and Pablo Prigioni provided an early fourth quarter spark to give the Knicks a 105-79 blowout and their most impressive win this post-season.

Game 1 left a lot of people wondering if the Knicks were “tough enough” to break down the league’s #1 defense in the Pacers, and NY showed, as they have all season, that they’re a team built on resiliency.

 

1ST HALF EXECUTION: For the majority of the first half, the Knicks answered the call of hitting shots and providing their own strong defense. They forced the Pacers into multiple turnovers and converted on most of their open shots. With just 3:36 left in the half, the Knicks were up 13 points.

Unfortunately, the Pacer defense combined with some Knick mental lapses left New York scoreless for the rest of the half. The Pacers were able to chip their deficit to only five points (47-42) headed into the third. However, the Knicks had reason to be encouraged, as their lead was predicated on ball movement and balanced contributions as Melo and JR were still struggling from the field.

 

3RD QUARTER TEST: The Knicks got a legit test over within the first 3-5 minutes of the third. Their shots stopped falling, and the Pacers started to nail three-pointers courtesy of Lance Stephenson and George Hill to take their first lead at 64-62. The crowd was antsy, as there was the fear the Knicks would revert to iso ball and get ran off the court.

Impressively, the Knicks never got rattled, and Melo secured the lead back courtesy of momentum-changing three-point play dunk over Jeff Pendergraph. That play brought new life to the Knicks defense, and on the next Pacer possession a Raymond Felton-Kenyon Martin trap in the backcourt resulted in a turnover and alley-oop dunk. Jason Kidd had another scoreless night, but found other ways to contribute in saving a deflection to find Tyson Chandler for an easy dunk and cap a 10-2 NY run to end the quarter. The Knicks held a 72-66 going into the fourth.

 

PACERS GET BURIED: The Pacers had been shooting well over 50% for most of the game, but came crashing down to the earth in the last 12 minutes. The Pacers had one of the league’s worst offenses during the season, and it was displayed in all its ugly glory as Indy went 0/11 to start and didn’t score from the field until three minutes were left in the quarter!

While the Pacers struggled, Pablo Prigioni furthered the Knicks run by hitting a pullup three and a short jumper in the lane to extend the lead to 77-66. Chants of “Pablo!” rained down from the Garden crowd, but it would be Melo who finished off the game. Melo had 16 points during an astounding 36-4 run to completely blow the game open to a 92-66 lead.

The last five minutes were garbage time and the starters thankfully got a decent rest. And it’s not like the Pacers got any reprieve when our bench was emptied — Quentin Richardson got in on the run with two treys of his own.

 

SHUMPERT THE BEAST: I think it’s safe to say Shump is fully back from his ACL tear based on the below play.

There were still some naysayers after Shump’s great play in the last series against Paul Pierce, citing Pierce’s age. This series so far shows Shumpert is coming into his own as a complete player. Once his jumper and finishing at the rim gets more consistent, I have no doubt the Knicks will have a future All-Star. In 28 minutes, Shumpert delivered 15 points (7/11 from the field), 6 rebounds and 1 steal.

 

ANYTIME NOW, JR: Our Sixth Man of the Year is still in this horrible shooting slump. Last night he went 3/15 from the field (1/7 from downtown). You can tell his confidence is really shaken and even his free throws aren’t a sure thing anymore. Nothing lasts forever, so we just have to patiently wait until he gets out of this. Thankfully, with guys like Felton, Shumpert and Prigioni picking up the slack, and Amar’e Stoudemire returning this weekend, JR doesn’t have overwhelming pressure to get it together. But when he does, the Knicks can potentially blow this series open.

 

REST!: I normally hate long breaks between games, but this time it’s extremely important to our squad. Melo’s hurt shoulder needs all the rest it can get. The Pacers have made it a point to test it out by hammering Melo in the paint. He was grimacing all throughout the game, but of course hitting his shots made the pain less potent. These three days will also serve to help Tyson Chandler, who you can tell is still battling the lingering effects of the bulging disc in his neck. Remember, the Knicks went right into this series one game removed from eliminating Boston.

Game 3 kicks off this Saturday and should also mark the long-awaited return of Amar’e Stoudemire.

Knicks Blow 26 Point Lead in 4th, Hold Off Celtics to Take Series

Shumpert_Celtics

Nothing comes easy in the playoffs, and the Knicks found that out in spades over the course of six games against the Boston Celtics. It was smooth sailing in the first three games until New York found themselves in an absolute dogfight from games 4-6. As nerve-wracking as these battles were for Knicks fans, the adversity the team had to endure can only help them since this round to the championship will not get any easier.

 

THREE QUARTER FOCUS: For the game’s first 36 minutes, the Knicks played like a squad determined to make amends for their putrid effort in game 5. The defense was absolutely stifling in the first half, causing the Celtics commit 11 turnovers off 6 blocks and 8 steals. While Carmelo Anthony was still struggling to shoot the ball, he was getting mostly good shots and not forcing the issue as others stepped up. Pablo Prigioni was the first half X-factor in nailing three treys. At one point, the Knicks lead 21-5. After one, it was a 24-10 cushion in favor of NY.

There was a 5-minute scoring drought in the second that allowed the Celtics to pull within nine, but a Melo three-point play off a pullup bank shot pushed the lead back to 39-27 at halftime.

The third quarter was a clinic with the Knicks hitting five three-pointers. The catalyst here was Iman Shumpert, who swished two of them and helped the ball movement immensely with his scoring. He did an appropriate “jet taunt” aimed at Jason Terry following the last one that pushed the lead to 67-47. Outside of a Raymond Felton tech for complaining, it was a near-flawless 12 minutes.

 

THE NEAR-COLLAPSE: The fourth quarter was one of the most absurd things I’ve seen all year from the Knicks. They continued attacking the rim and got the lead up to 75-49 off a Shumpert putback dunk just a few minutes in the quarter. You’d think it was a wrap on but once again, the Knicks showed a complete lack of killer instinct and let Boston go on a completely inexcusable 20-0 run (yes, you read that right), that allowed them to get within four points (77-73). Not only did the Knicks commit four sloppy turnovers, but they weren’t getting set on defense and shying away from the big moments on the offensive end. Felton and JR appeared unsure of themselves and everything went back to Melo isolations. To our superstar’s credit, Melo was able to hit some clutch free throws and a pullup jumper to get the lead back to six (81-75). However, putting Iman Shumpert back into the starting lineup is what stopped the bleeding as he got another steal taht lead to a fast break layup.

Melo’s three-pointer, followed by a block on Paul Pierce and JR three-point play, finally iced the game with a little under two minutes remaining.

 

THE POSITIVES: Iman Shumpert was the MVP of this game as far as the Knicks are concerned. He was all over Paul Pierce (4/18, 14 points), and contributed 17 points on 6/9 shooting. Shump was two-way player last night and never got flustered during that 20-0 run. Tyson Chandler’s been hurting the whole series, but he’s made gradual progress returning to form and did well on the rebounding and defensive front (9 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks). He got his team a few needed offensive rebounds down the stretch, and did a good job on Kevin Garnett (15 points, 10 rebounds) late in the fourth despite being burned on post moves a few times.

Felton didn’t have a monster game (11 points on 5/14 shooting), but he was very consistent in moving the ball (7 assists) and driving to the lane. My only issue with him was the complaining. He runs this offensive ship and has to stay focused with the game of the line.

 

THE GAUNTLET ONLY GETS WORSE: If the Knicks thought the defense of the Celtics was rough, they’re in for absolute hell when they take on the Indiana Pacers tomorrow. Roy Hibbert and David West will be all over anyone that comes into the lane. The Knicks, specifically Carmelo Anthony, need to ready themselves mentally for the pounding and inevitable missed calls inside. The whining only turns the refs against them, so that needs to be hammered home by Coach Woodson.

The Knicks also need to realize that no lead is safe. Every tem that’s made it this far in the season is dangerous. When you get in position to have your foot on someone’s neck in a game, you don’t let up — you break it. Death blows kill confidence and prevent 20-0 runs.

 

MELO: This is the one player I’m worried about in this Indiana series. Melo’s nursing a shoulder injury and since this Celtics series wasn’t wrapped up quickly, the Knicks get right back into a dogfight tomorrow. Along with the physical issues, Melo’s been struggling with his shot over the last three games. If the Knicks have any hope of getting off to a good start, they need their leading scorer to at the very least have a decent game.

With all that said, the Knicks have accomplished another season goal of getting out of the first round of the playoffs. After a 13-year drought, that’s cause enough celebration (and relief).

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaNIYfZpmek&feature=youtube_gdata_player]