Tag: Carmelo Anthony

Brandon Jennings, Kindly STFU – Knicks Ride 3rd Quarter Blitz & Melo’s 41, Down Bucks 101-83

Melo_3Taunt

40 years ago, the New York Knicks were the NBA champions. The names of those players still ring out heavy among Knick fans: Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Dick Barnett, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Phil Jackson, Willis Reed, Hawthrone Wingo, Bill Bradley and the late Dave DeBusschere. Tonight, most of that team made it out to the Garden to be honored by a very appreciative Madison Square Garden crowd. The only thing needed to cap a beautiful evening was the Knicks extending their winning streak to 11. There were some bumps in the road, or better yet, bumps over the entire first half, but the current Knicks delivered on their end and then some…

UGLY FIRST HALF: The Knicks played their worst basketball of this winning streak in the first 24 minutes against the Bucks. The Knicks could literally not hit anything, including wide open shots. Most of their three point attempts were uncontested and they still went an atrocious 1-12. Meanwhile, the Bucks went 7-14, anchored by a hot second quarter from J.J. Redick, who sunk four in the quarter to help propel him to 13 points.

With the shots not going down, the offense degraded to predictable post isolations for Melo. Unfortunately, Melo had problems holding onto the ball (5 turnovers) and finishing over Bucks’s big frontcourt, lead by the league’s top shot-blocker in Larry Sanders.

Having shot 34% from the field and down 36-45 at halftime, the only bright spot for the Knicks was that there was no way they could play that horribly over the next 24 minutes.

BRANDON JENNINGS GETS HIS DUE KARMA: The Knicks came out strong in the third and quickly got the deficit to two before making some blunders on Brandon Jennings, who made a four-point swing by turning a missed free throw into a foul and three-point play. Jennings would hit a three later to push the Bucks lead to nine. As usual for him, Jennings was feeling himself way before the game was decided, and shot a smug glare at the Garden faithful.

Wrong move, especially on this night.

The Knicks promptly broke the game open on an absurd 25-2 run, which saw them at one point score 16 straight points. Remember those three-pointers that wouldn’t go down in the first half? JR Smith hit three of them in quarter. Felton added one for three of his nine points in the quarter. Melo had two three-points plays, treys and assorted jumpers for a blistering 18 points in 12 minutes.

What was the icing on the cake to this 42-21 third quarter? On a late Jennings drive, he was smacked right in the face by Tyson Chandler and laid out to no call. While he languished on the floor holding his face, his defensive assignment in Raymond Felton drained a three-pointer. When Jennings tried to hold for the final shot, Felton was all over him and made sure he was denied the ball (causing Brandon to have a short tantrum much to the delight of the crowd).

And for the final cap to the Knicks’s highest scoring quarter of the season, Jason Kidd heaved a three from the opposite three-point line behind halfcourt. The result was a banked-in shot and a 78-66 lead going into the fourth.

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MELO EQUALS HIS IDOL: Although the Bucks hung around for most of the fourth and got as close at six, you never got the feeling the Knicks were in trouble with Melo on the floor. The Bucks got three-point happy, and Melo coolly closed the game out on them with back to back long jumpers to put the Knicks up 91-81. From there, Melo was sitting on 38 points and the crowd gave him a standing ovation and “MVP!” chants, hoping he could hit 40 again.

He did it easily on a pull-up three-pointer to push the lead at 96-81.

With his 41 points tonight, Melo equals his idol Bernard King as the only Knick to score 40 points in three straight games. Not only is this Melo eighth 40-plus game this season (the most in the NBA), he’s the first player in 28 years to have 3 straight 40 point games while shooting over 60% from the field.

And finally, let’s not forget another great stat for Melo — 14 rebounds.

CHANDLER SLOWLY COMING BACK: Tyson is far from his usual self yet, but he did well on the rebounding front (10) and like the rest of the team woke up on offense in the second half. With Kenyon Martin resting, it was important Chandler do well on the boards and he stepped up to the challenge.

JR SWISH: This man was key in that 3rd quarter barrage as he couldn’t miss from three. He turned into the old chucking JR for a bit in the fourth, but I couldn’t blame him with how he had been shooting. And more importantly, he kept his head on defense. Off the bench JR gave us 30 points (11/22 shooting) and 10 rebounds.

THE LEGENDS GET A PROPER HOMECOMING:  With the 1973 championship team in the house, the Garden wanted a fun win and that’s exactly what they got. I’m sure they imparted some team wisdom to the current Knicks that they’ll hopefully take with them into the playoffs.

Now at 11 straight wins, the streak faces its biggest danger on Sunday when the Knicks meet the Thunder.

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10 and Counting — Melo and JR Turn Atlanta Into MSG South, Knicks Defeat Hawks 95-82

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On the second night of a road back to back, the Knicks had every reason to pack this one in. What we received was another stellar performance from Carmelo Anthony. And even more importantly, our superstar got to lay back in the fourth quarter while others stepped up to put the Atlanta Hawks out of their misery. The Knicks win streak has now hit double digits and with this play, it might not be stopping anytime soon.

 

MELO CARRIES THE LOAD THROUGH THREE:  After a quiet 1-4 shooting start, Melo erupted for 13 points in the first quarter and 24 points by halftime. Unlike last night’s 50 point game, which was exclusively on perimeter jumpers, Melo went inside out on Josh Smith, who was completely hapless on defense. When the Hawks doubled, Melo didn’t force it and kicked out to the open man. Unfortunately, most of the open looks from Jason Kidd, JR Smith and Raymond Felton weren’t being converted on, which allowed the Hawks to hang around.

Atlanta took a brief lead in the third behind Kyle Korver’s hot shooting (25 points, six three-pointers), but the Knicks never allowed Atlanta to get more than a point or two in front.

While it was awesome watching Melo torch Smith, you began wondering if he would have any gas left for the fourth, as he had to 36 of the Knicks’ 68 points headed into the final stanza.

 

FELTON AND JR COME ALIVE: Wondering how the Knicks walked out of Atlanta with a double-digit lead with Melo only scoring four points in the fourth? That falls on Felton and Smith, who combined for an astounding 20 points on 9/12 shooting. Both had been struggling with their shots, but everything came together when it mattered. Felton attacked the lane fearlessly for repeated layups due to the Hawks defense focusing too closely on Melo. And JR, who couldn’t finish at the rim for nothing in the previous three quarters, was now shaking Hawks players at will for short jumpers and a dagger three late that put New York up 87-76. The life had been sucked out of the Hawks and JR added some more dirt to their grave by blowing past Josh Smith for a two-handed slam. Smith finished with 19 points while Felton contributed 14.

 

THE ROUGH SPOTS:  The second and third quarter were frustrating to watch as the Knicks were giving the Hawks unnecessary life. The main culprit that stood out was Iman Shumpert. He made the repeated blunder of sagging off Kyle Korver and getting burned for three-pointers. This was why Coach Woodson elected to go with Jason Kidd to close out the fourth. It ended up being a wise decision, as Kidd was huge in shutting down Korver and keeping the ball moving to the tune of 7 assists (the best being a alley oop slam to Melo in the fourth). Kidd also protected the boards with 5 rebounds.

 

WOUNDED WARRIOR: Tyson Chandler is jsut two games into his return froma  bulging disc in his neck. Last game he complained of stiffness, and tonight he was seen holding his left clavicle area after a rebound in the first half. Although he didn’t have much in the way of points (2) or rebounds (4), he did a good job of keeping Al Horford nullified (9 points, 7 rebounds).

 

90 POINTS IN 24 HOURS: Let’s get back to Melo. The man’s stat line in the last 24 hours is 35/53 (8/12 from downtown) for 66% shooting, Nearly everything was within the flow of the offense and he made the right passes when needed. When you hear people say Melo is the best scorer in the NBA, these are the games that support that opinion. And I’ll go on record as predicting he’ll have a monster April and take his first scoring title.

 

MSG SOUTH: The Knicks are 6-1 over their last seven meetings with the Hawks. Once again, the Hawks had their arena turned into MSG South. It was downright embarrassing how loud the Knickstape faithful chanted “MVP!” for Melo in the fourth as he capped the evening with 40 points. If it wasn’t for the court colors, you’d swear they were playing in at the original Madison Square Garden.

 

Does the streak hit 11 games? We’ll find out on Friday when the Knicks head back home to face the Bucks.

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50 to the Head — Melo Lights Up Short-Handed Heat, Knicks’ Streak Hits Nine

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So what Dwyane Wade and LeBron James weren’t playing tonight? The Knicks were missing their own superstars in Kurt Thomas and Rasheed Wallace! In all seriousness, I had some mixed feelings coming into tonight’s final regular season meeting between the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat. On one hand, I wanted our winning streak to be tested against a fully healthy version of the defending champs. On the other hand, an “easy win” on paper was needed, as the Knicks and Pacers are literally changing places between #2 and #3 in the East every game. In the end, the Knicks got a win they absolutely had to have, and move on step closer to winning their first Atlantic division title since 1994.

AN INEXCUSABLE FIRST HALF: Things started off good enough in the first quarter with a red-hot Carmelo Anthony going on an 8-0 run all by himself, But as the game settled in, the small Knicks backcourt of Pablo Prigioni and Raymond Felton had problems with Chris Anderson’s rolls to the rim and getting over screens. After leading 27-25 after one, the Knicks forgot about defense and got torched by Mike Miller of all people for 13 points (18 at the half). Look here… there is no excuse for Miller to be lighting anyone up in 2013. The defensive switches were bad for the Knicks as were the useless double teams. The NY guards in particular were being beat at will by Norris Cole and Ray Allen into the paint. Tyson Chandler was still out of sync so his post presence wasn’t much of a factor with the Heat holding a 28-6 scoring edge in the paint and a 58-50 lead at halftime.

The offense wasn’t much better for the Knicks. JR Smith was having a very difficult time getting into the paint, but to his credit he stuck with his newfound game and had 9 points to compliment Melo’s 27.

THE ROAD BACK: It was a still a one-man show on offense for the Knicks with Melo having 42 points by the end of the third quarter. The main change was the defense. Miller was held scoreless as the closeouts and rotations were vastly improved. The Knicks forced Cole to make tough decisions, leading to rushed and contested shots. The Knicks had some sloppy turnovers late that prevented them from getting any additional breathing room. However, a Melo drive and kick out for a Steve Novak trey at the buzzer gave the Knicks a slim 78-76 lead going into the fourth.

GRINDED AND SPIT OUT: Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the fourth quarter would be a grind out 12 minutes and it was in the early going. Kenyon Martin, who had been providing his usual good defense all game, smashed home a two-handed slam over Chris Anderson. Raymond Felton came alive in getting into the lane and also working a long jumper to extend the NY lead to 84-78. But the Heat battled back behind Chris Bosh’s ability to draw fouls inside to tie it at 86 with 7:49 remaining.

The biggest break for the Knicks came with them clinging to an 90-88 lead and Bosh throwing a nice one-handed pass to an open Shane Battier. The three-pointer barely missed, and the Knicks immediately called time to regroup. From that point on, with 5-6 minutes left, the Heat would not score another field goal.

Melo closed the show in efficient and deadly fashion, hitting quick, long jumpers and a three-pointer to push the Knicks ahead 95-88. Bosh’s attempt at a layup resulted in a loud, nasty block from Tyson Chandler. The scoring dagger would be JR Smith’s trey that made it 99-88 with under 2 minutes to play.

On the Knicks’ last possession, JR informed Melo that he was one field goal off from 50, promptly Melo to casually swish another long jumper to equal his career-high.

MELO STARTS OFF APRIL CORRECT: Last April it was Melo who willed us into the playoffs with off the charts play. If his play from tonight is any indication, we may get another amazing month. Melo’s 50 points came on 18/26 shooting (7/10 from downtown). Who’s bright idea on the Heat’s coaching staff was it to give Udonis Haslem extended minutes guarding Melo?

ANOTHER SEASON SERIES GOES TO THE KNICKSTAPE: A few days ago the Knicks took the season series from Boston 3-1. Tonight, Miami got the same treatment, with their lone win being achieved by coming back from a 16-point deficit. The playoffs are an entirely different animal, but the Knicks will enter it with confidence against the best team in the league should they meet in the conference finals.

Next up tomorrow night are the Hawks down in Atlanta. Let’s see if Melo’s hot shooting carries over.

Happy Easter, Boston! Knicks Dominate Celtics 108-89, Take Season Series

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2004. That is the last time the Knicks won a season series against the Boston Celtics. Here we are nine years later with the Knicks breaking that drought emphatically with three straight wins (two in Boston) over their Atlantic division rivals to win the season series 3-1 and extend their winning streak to eight. Are the Knicks about to peak heading into April and the playoffs? There’s many reasons from this game to think so.

BLOWN OPEN IN THE SECOND: The Knicks had a 28-23 lead after one solely based on their hot shooting (52% from the field), punctuated by 4 three-pointers. The Celtics were right there with them courtesy of Jeff Green (27 points), who attacked the rim like JR Smith has been doing lately. But when the second quarter came around, the Knicks ran them out the building.

Chris Copeland provided some key offense with Melo on the bench by hitting his first two three-pointers. Steve Novak added a few treys and Jason Kidd added a shot-clock bailout one that extended the lead to 60-44. The three-point shooting was the main factor in the huge lead, as the Knicks hit 11 of them at the half. The ball movement was on point (15 assists for the team), and the scoring was evenly distributed.

You’ll recall the Knicks ran away with the last Celtics game in the second and capped their excellent play with a deep JR trey at the buzzer. Well, Raymond Felton did one better with a beyond half-court floater that banked in to make the lead 65-48. When shots like that are going down, you know you’re in trouble.

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NO THIRD QUARTER MELTDOWN: Over the first 4-5 minutes of the third, the Celtics were the team with momentum. They were getting to the line and hitting threes, which got them as close as 11 on a few occasions. However, the Knicks responded with timely buckets each time, the biggest being a Felton 3-point play that gave Avery Bradley, the Celtics’ best perimeter defender, his fifth foul. NY finished the quarter strong and Boston faced a 86-69 hole headed into the fourth.

BOSTON SUCKS!: These type of Madison Square Garden chants have come back to haunt us in previous games, but not tonight. The chants started at the beginning of the fourth and the Celtics never could provide any reason to shut the Knicks fans up. Paul Pierce had a good night (24 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists), but sat the entire fourth as coach Doc Rivers knew it was a lost cause.

JR COOLS OFF: JR Smith’s 30 point game, 50% shooting streak ended tonight on a very good note. I say that because we all wondered if JR would go back to his chucking ways when his shots weren’t going down. He was 4/12 from the field, but made sure to get to the line (7/10) and swallow up rebounds (12) on the small ball-minded Celtics. Tonight he faced one of the best defenses in the league and didn’t mentally have a setback, the clearest sign thus far that the “New JR Smith” is here to stay.

PABLO PRIGIONI REMAINS UNDEFEATED: Since Prigioni entered the starting lineup, the Knicks have been on this season-high eight-game win streak. It shouldn’t be surprising as Prigioni expertise in ball movement and steals/deflections have made sure the offense remains diverse with everyone being a scoring threat (except himself, of course). Pablo will get his biggest test on Tuesday against the Heat.

MELO’s 27 MINUTES: Carmelo had under 20 shots tonight (9/19) which is always a plus for the ball movement. The reason he ended up with 24 points instead of 32 is his struggles converting at the rim. A lot of them were point-blank shots that were just rimming out. But like JR, he contributed in other areas, namely in nabbing 10 rebounds. His defense was lazy at times (being late on switches and not contesting Green’s drives to the rim), but these lapses weren’t a huge detriment.

KNICKS SURVIVE THEIR TOUGHEST MONTH OF THE SEASON: How difficult was the month of March? We lost Tyson Chandler, Kurt Thomas and Amar’e Stoudemire to injuries, leaving just two bigs on the team. Melo missed several games with a bum knee and appeared in dire straits at times. Our West Coast trip proved to be a disaster going 1-4, and the Brooklyn Nets at one point were one game out of the top of the Atlantic Division. This winning streak helped the Knicks finish the month 12-6, stay atop the Atlantic by 4.5 games, and remain poised to have a healthy and confident team headed into the playoffs.

We’ve vanquished Boston. Now it’s time to make a statement to Miami and win that season series on Tuesday.

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Knicks Extend Winning Streak to Seven, Defeat Bobcats 111-102

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It was fitting that the Knicks celebrate Walt “Clyde” Frazier’s 68th birthday with a win tonight. Hell, we can’t have our Knicks legend wearing that cow-print suit for nothing. You may recall that Bobcats gave the Knicks a tough go of it in December when a JR Smith buzzer-beater was needed to hold them off. JR opted to dominate the entire game this time around, and the team had an easy go of it despite replicating their lazy second half play from the last game against the Grizzlies.

ANOTHER FIRST HALF BEATDOWN: The Knicks came out on fire again riding the playmaking of Iman Shumpert, whose five assists were marked by three-pointers from Carmelo Anthony and Raymond Felton. The team hit five treys in the first quarter and the weak defense of the Bobcats had JR Smith looking like a late 90s Larry Johnson in the post. Charlotte was inept on offense as well, coughing up six turnovers. The New York scoring was varied and lethal, with the team shooting over 70% with under three minutes remaining. Melo had another fast start with 13 points, Shump had 8, Felton contributed 7 and JR 9.

With the Knicks rotating well on defense and keeping the paint locked up, the Bobcats were reduced to long jumpers. Steve Novak and Felton hit more threes to push the lead up to 63-35, and JR’s focus on getting high-percentage shots in the paint enabled the Knicks to equal their season-high in halftime points at 69. On the Bobcats end, the Knicks held them to 47 points to hold a 22-point halftime lead.

SECOND HALF LAZINESS: Seriously, in order for the Knicks to stay focused after getting these big leads, the arena is going to have to start turning off the scoreboards. Just like the Grizzlies game a few nights ago, the Knicks came out flat in the third. Some of the shots just rimmed out, but defensively the big difference was Bobcats guards like Gerald Henderson were able to get to the rim for foul calls. At one point the Knicks missed eight straight shots, but they tightened up in the last few minutes to hold a 88-69 lead going into the fourth.

The Bobcats had a 33 point fourth quarter on the back of hot three-point shooting, Henderson getting a lot of superstar-like calls, and Coach Woodson waiting too long to put his best perimeter defender (Shumpert) back in. The Knicks got into the penalty around the six minute mark and that helped the Bobcats get as close as seven. However, this was the Bobcats and you never felt the lead was in danger of being stolen. Apparently, by their play the Knicks didn’t either, as the offense went into iso mode for Melo over the last few minutes. A JR drive to the hoop pushed the lead to 104-95 with under two minutes left, and a steal by him on the very next possession closed the book on the competitive portion of the game.

JR’s AWESOME RUN CONTINUES: For the sixth straight game, JR Smith shot over 50% from the field. He scored 30-plus points off the bench for the third straight game, becoming the first Knick to do so and the first player since Ricky Pierce did it back in 1990. It’s like the light bulb went off and JR’s finally realized how to maximize his skill set. Tonight his stat line was 37 points on 12/18 shooting (2/2 from downtown) and 11/12 from the free throw line.

We’ll need this same JR and a more efficient Melo on Sunday when we face the Celtics, who’ll be out for blood at the Garden after that drubbing they took in Boston earlier this week.

Six and Counting — Knicks Survive 2nd Half Grizzlies Surge, Extend Winning Streak

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Could the Knicks have been any more bipolar tonight? Leave it to my beloved squad to deliver the best first half of this season only to flush it right down the toilet with an abominable second half. Luckily for New York, their dominance in the first two quarters was enough of a cushion to give them an important win to extend the winning streak to six games. Yes, a win is a win, but I still watched the entire second half pissed off.

FIRST HALF BRILLIANCE: It cannot be overstated how phenomenal the Knicks were over the first 24 minutes. The offensive blitz started behind the hot hand of Iman Shumpert, who scored 13 points just six minutes into the first quarter. He hit three treys and had his mid-range jumper working as well. Although Grizzlies center Marc Gasol surprised everyone by playing despite suffering from an abdominal tear, the Knicks made it a point to go right into the teeth of their defense with aggressive layups courtesy of Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith, who had 11 points each in the first quarter to give the Knicks a 37-25 lead. In addition, the team shot a scorching 72% from the field.

With Melo resting to begin the second, the ball movement got even better with JR manning the second unit. Steve Novak delivered 9 points on three treys while Jason Kidd found JR for a monster alley oop dunk to extend the lead to 58-34. Raymond Felton and Shumpert added more three-pointers and by halftime the Knicks had a 69-41 lead. Smith had 23 points off the bench to lead all scorers, and the field goal percentage for the team was still high at 61%.

With how great things were going, apparently the Knicks could only go down in the second half…

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A GRINDING HALT AND REPLAY OF THE KNICKS’ FIRST DEFEAT: Remember when the Knicks lost to Memphis way back in November? In that game, the Knicks also shot roughly 60% in the first half, but fell apart in the third and earned several technicals for complaining. Nearly the exact same thing happened tonight with Marcus Camby getting tossed for cursing out the refs after picking up quick fouls. Shumpert and Kenyon Martin were forced to sit with 4 fouls apiece, and this quarter dragged on and on as the Grizzlies were able to live at the line (14 free throws in all) to outscore the Knicks 29-17.

The beautiful ball movement that marked the first half had degraded to repeated isolation plays and long jumpers. With this being the second night of a back to back, you’d think fatigue might have played a factor. But it was clear that this bad quarter was simply the result of the team getting too relaxed with their big lead, which had wilted to 86-70 entering the fourth.

ANOTHER LONG QUARTER: This game should have been put away early in the fourth and at first it appeared that was going to be the case. JR Smith kicked off the first Knicks possession with a three-point play on a fast break. But then Jerryd Bayless, another bench player like Toronto’s Alan Anderson that seems to get fired up to play New York, started hitting some timely three-point shots to pull his squad to within 10 (89-79). Melo didn’t do the team any favors by earning his own technical for complaining about a missed foul inside, but he made up for it later by hitting back to back jumpers to extend the lead to 100-86.

Still, the Grizzlies refused to go away and the Knicks kept giving them chances. Unbelievably, they cut the lead to just five (100-95) before Jason Kidd was fouled on his only made shot, a three-pointer, to earn a four-point play with 1:29 left. There must be something about four-point plays that rattle Kidd because he missed this one just like he did in the second Nets game. The Grizzlies had a little life and they used it over two timeouts, but JR’s free throws to make it 106-99 with 26 seconds left finally iced the game.

JR GOES OVER 30 AGAIN: How about JR Smith dropping over 30 points on back to back nights? The best thing about these games is how JR is staying in control and continuing to not settle for jumpers. I can count on one hand how many contested, outside jumpers he took. I never thought I’d be saying Melo could learn a thing or two from JR’s new approach. If Smith keeps this up, he’ll not only win Sixth Man of the Year, but ensure the Knicks lock up the Atlantic Division and the #2 spot in the East.

GOOD DEFENSE UP FRONT, BAD DEFENSE IN THE BACK: I was worried about how the Knicks would handle the Grizzlies’ big frontline, but the team did very well in that department. Kenyon Martin did good work on Marc Gasol (13 points) and Zach Randolph (3 points), and Melo held his own when he got those assignments (even drawing two offensive fouls on Randolph).

The backcourt is where the Knicks got some punishment, with Mike Conley (26 points), Jerryd Bayless (24 points) and Tony Allen (18 points) all going off at different points. Luckily for New York, Felton made up for some of his bad turnovers with 13 points overall and some key drives to the rim in the fourth.

The Knicks are still in second place in the East with a small lead over the Pacers, so it’s a welcome sight that the next game is against the lowly Charlotte Bobcats at home. With that said, it was a tooth and nail battle against them in December with the Knicks needing a JR game-winner. Let’s hope the “Friday Night Knicks” curse doesn’t rear its ugly head.

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Taped Again — Knicks Complete Back to Back Sweep of Raptors 110-84

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Begone, lowly Raptors! With Rudy Gay again out of commission with back spasms, the Knicks needed to take care of business emphatically at Madison Square Garden. That’s what they did from the second quarter on through a strong overall team effort. And what made this easy victory even sweeter was our conference rivals all lost (Pacers, Nets, Celtics), allowing the Knicks to slide back into second place.

There wasn’t much to complain about, so let’s get right to the highlights…

 

KENYON MARTIN REMAINS IN BEAST MODE: K-Mart ran roughshod over Toronto yesterday and did so again tonight. His active presence does so much to keep the offense flowing — he catches lobs, cleans up misses and NEVER lets anyone come into the paint without getting checked hard. He got away with a hard misse foul on Carl Lowry which turned into an Iman Shumpert three-pointer in the second.

In the same quarter, Martin got a huge block on John Lucas outside the paint. The hard-nosed defense got contagious with Shumpert blocking Landry Fields inside a few seconds later. The Knicks got possession, and Melo found K-Mart inside for a three-point play which pushed the lead to 59-47 at halftime.

Most impressive was Martin doing all his damage while sitting out the fourth, scoring 18 points, grabbing 7 rebounds and notching 2 blocks.

 

MELO DINES ON FIELDS: I normally have love for ex-Knicks, but Landry Fields lost a lot of good will from me when he started doing interviews basically blaming Melo for his post-rookie year regression (Riiight, like Melo was the reason you shot 56% from the free throw line last year). It’s no secret that these two don’t like each other, and Melo even got a flagrant 1 for a retaliatory shove from a Fields elbow.

Thankfully, Melo did the majority of his talking by torching Fields for 28 points on 9/19 shooting coupled with 8 rebounds. And in a big improvement from Friday’s game, Melo hit all his free throws (10 in all) and just had 2 turnovers. Melo feasted in the paint on an array of turnaround jumpers. Alan Anderson couldn’t do much better when he got the defensive assignment.

And like Martin, Melo did all this work in just three quarters and got to chill for the fourth.

 

THE SUPPORTING CAST: Melo and Martin were the leaders, but this was a strong team effort. JR Smith had 25 points (9/16 from the field) and kept his efficiency high by going strong to the rim. JR also managed to give the Raptors one final huge disrespect by scoring a layup in the final second after both teams had clearly stopped playing.

Shumpert continues to gain confidence defensively off ACL surgery — the second year guard forced the Raptor perimeter players into contested jumpers and logged 4 steals. Copeland got a Woody tongue-lashing for some first half bad defense, but tightened up and still brought it on offense (12 points). Jason Kidd and Pablo Prigioni didn’t have big scoring outings, but their defense was solid and helped to deflate the Raptors in the second half. And even Novak hit a long jumper off the dribble! *GASP*

 

THE LINEUP MOVING FORWARD: With K-Mart playing so well the last two games, the rumblings have already begun among fans about him starting. As a natural power forward, he increases our defense and offense, which takes some of the load off Tyson Chandler, and allows Melo to move back to his natural small forward position.

Coach Woodson put all that to rest by stating Martin will be off the bench when Chandler returns. I understand his reasoning. Our frontcourt depth has been ruined by injuries and with Martin also being an older player, he wants to make sure he’s fresh for the playoffs. If Martin were to start, the only true big we’d have off the bench is Marcus Camby (who’s been injury-prone this season).

It’s so frustrating when you think of how formidable this team could be with everyone healthy.

The Knicks get a few days of deserved rest before a big road game on Tuesday  against a hated division rival in the Celtics. I’m sure I speak for all Knicks fans when I say I want that game badly.

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Melo and Martin Lead Knicks Past Raptors, Clinch Playoff Berth

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Playoffs, here we come! Tonight, the Knicks not only clenched a playoff berth, but enacted a little bit of revenge on the Toronto Raptors, who previously beat the Knicks twice in embarrassing losses. It was an overall uneven performance (especially defensively and at the free throw line), but a high scoring output from Carmelo Anthony and a phenomenal effort from Kenyon Martin kept NY in front for nearly the entire contest.

 

KNICKS  START SOLID: After the Raptors took what would be their largest lead of the game at 6-2, the Knicks warmed up to the game behind some potent outside shooting. Iman Shumper and Raymond Felton had treys, but the best sequence of the opening quarter came courtesy of Pablo Prigioni, who got starting duties at point. Prigioni nailed a 17-foot scoop shot, then promptly stole the inbound pass and found Melo camped out for a three-pointer. The Knicks would take a 10 point lead (25-15), but a quick 7-0 Raptors run made the Knicks settle for a 25-22 lead after one.

 

2ND QUARTER BRILLIANCE: The Knicks clicked on all cylinders here and got a bit of luck with the Raptors’ best player Rudy Gay being forced to sit with back spasms (he wouldn’t return). Marcus Camby was a strong defensive presence inside, drawing offensive fouls and getting a nice block. The Raptors came out shooting 1-12 in the quarter. With six minutes left, the Knicks had outscored them 12-3 behind Steve Novak’s three-point shooting and JR Smith continuing his recent trend of attacking the rim. JR even drew a charge of his own in the paint. And Melo got to feast with the overmatched Landry Fields attempting to guard him in the paint. When the smoke cleared, the Knicks had a comfortable 50-37 halftime lead.

 

KENYON MARTIN LIFTS KNICKS OVER SECOND HALF STRUGGLES: The third quarter was a classic Knicks disaster. I don’t know if someone on the Knicks did him wrong in a past life, but Raptors bench player Alan Anderson has had it out for NY every game. He light them up again from the perimeter by draining threes and getting superstar treatment from the refs on fouls. Anderson scored a ridiculous 20 points in the quarter and his team would outscore the Knicks 34-27. The man even got a 4-point play on, guess who, JR Smith.

Although the Raptors would go on to outscore the Knicks 57-49 over the second half, Kenyon Martin was our great equalizer. The man was an animal on the boards (11 rebounds) and a huge physical presence inside that had guards like Kyle Lowry second-guessing their drives. Sure, Martin picked up a few dumb fouls, but it was well worth it because his effort was relentless. Martin had multiple putback slams and when the defense sagged off him, he rolled right to the basket for two key layups in the fourth quarter. Melo put up the big scoring numbers, but the game ball goes to K-Martin for his impressive, well-rounded stat line of 19 points (9/10 shooting), 11 rebounds, 2 steals and a block.

 

MOMENTUM PLAY: The Raptors were very close to taking over this game after a Demar Derozan three-point play brought them within two points (84-82) with less than six minutes remaining. The two teams had been trading baskets and it would be the Raptors who blinked first, courtesy of an open jumper Derozan missed. Melo would promptly get a three-point play inside, followed by two Martin layups and a Felton trey with the shot clock winding down that pushed the lead to 94-84 with under four minutes remaining. The game should have been iced, but the horrid free throw shooting made this one have a little drama in the final minute.

 

FREE THROWS: The performance tonight at the line was inexcusable. The Knicks had three different chances to close this one out at the line and each time the player either split the shots (Melo, Kidd) or bricked both (JR). For the game, the Knicks shot a putrid 54% (13/24). This needs to be reigned in as much as possible because this recurrent flaw is highly detrimental to this important stretch for better playoff seeding.

 

MELO: Normally, Melo hoisting 31 shots is a sign our offense is stagnant. That wasn’t the case tonight. Melo had a very slow start to the game, being 3/10 at one stretch and 5/14 in the first half. But in the second half, he really came alive inside via the abuse he put on Landry Fields and even Alan Anderson at times. And it wasn’t just offense — Melo had six rebounds and two blocks (one being a nice perimeter rejection to stifle Terrence Ross). We needed every bit of his 37 points tonight and the team still shot over 50%.

 

The Knicks will meet the Raptors one last time on Saturday night to close out the season series. If Rudy Gay remains sidelined and the Knicks, particularly Martin, can bring this same effort, I see no reason why the Knickstape don’t emerge with another victory.

[youtube http://youtu.be/XL_-e1kM008]

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[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGeWsP8U9mQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

[Video] Carmelo Anthony’s Game of Thrones Season 3 Promo

You know nothing, Carmelo Anthony –Ygritte

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I now bring before you Lord Carmelo Anthony of House Knickerbocker! As if the anticipation for season 3 of the critically-acclaimed hit series Game of Thrones isn’t high enough, HBO has linked up with the NBA for some cross-promotion. If you get a chance to check out the Youtube comments, you’ll see there’s a bunch of irate Game of Thrones purists (read — NERDS), who are highly upset at seeing the series “sullied” (wink wink to Daenerys’ special soldiers) by Melo’s appearance. Well, if you’re a Game of Thrones AND Knicks nerd like myself, you love this.

Game of Thrones has its season three premiere on March 31.

Melo Returns, Knicks Breeze By Magic 106-94

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It’s been a long time since this squad had an “easy win.” Tonight, the Knicks got their best player in Carmelo Anthony back in the lineup, moved the ball around and played solid defense throughout to complete a season sweep of the Orlando Magic. Sure, the Magic are one of the worst teams in the league and were on the end of a back to back, but a win is a win, and the Knicks need plenty of them over the next month if they hope to hold off Brooklyn and win the Atlantic Division. With Knicks legends Patrick Ewing and John Starks in the house tonight, the Knicks are slowly bouncing back from that atrocious West Coast road trip.

EXCELLENT SHOOTING: The Knicks came out strong in shooting 58% in the first quarter (5-8 from downtown). With the bigs from both sides banged up, the Magic went with a three guard lineup while the Knicks inserted Kenyon Martin at center. Melo had 7 points in the opener and moved the ball quickly out of double teams to find guys like JR Smith (22 points) and Chris Copeland (9 points). The Knicks had a nice 10-0 run in the quarter and held a 26-15 lead after one.

THE ONE BAD QUARTER: The Knicks were outscored 31-25 in the second and a lot of that fell on lax defense and get outhustled to rebounds. Still, the three-point shooting remained strong with Melo and Shump draining treys to help keep the Magic on the wrong side of 51-46 score going into halftime.

3RD QUARTER DOMINANCE: The Magic really gave it a go, but the Knicks pushed back every run they attempted. JR Smith was aggressive in going to the rim, which either forced a foul or resulted in a layup. Pablo Prigioni kept up the ball movement (finding Kenyon Martin on a nice pick n’ roll to the basket), and the Knicks ran through the Magic defense to the tune of a 32-19 quarter and 76-60 lead.

STARTERS REST IN 4TH, SECOND UNIT CLOSES THE SHOW: Coach Woodson remained true to his word in trying to lower Carmelo Anthony’s minutes. He did so by only playing him 33 minutes and letting him sit for the fourth. Melo was efficient with his time of the floor in scoring 21 points on 7-14 shooting (3-5 from downtown). Most importantly, he looked healthy — Melo’s lift and first step looked the best they have in weeks. Iman Shumpert had 7 points but sat for the fourth as a precaution due to stiffness in his knee. Let’s pray that’s all it is.

Jason Kidd and JR Smith were two of the more important pieces that ensured the game remained out of reach for the Magic. Kidd’s stat line shows 3 steals, but he caused numerous deflections and had the Magic offense sputtering. JR didn’t go the rim as much in the final 12 minutes, but his jumper became deadly.

There was a few minutes towards the end where the players got lazy and the Magic pulled to within nine (95-86), but a Novak trey that pushed it to 101-88 pretty muched iced the game with under two minutes. Speaking of Novak, he contributed 11 points and nailed some nice momentum threes.

Is there any way we can just play the Magic for the rest of the season? Our next game is “Friday Night Knicks” against the Raptors, who we have the dubious distinction of losing twice to. If the Knicks bring the effort they did tonight, especially when it comes to the shooting, they’ll emerge victorious. But as we already know with this team, that’s a big if.

[youtube http://youtu.be/ABK04QhabF4]