Tag: ESPN

Sweet Revenge: Knicks Storm Back from 18-point Deficit to Stun Bucks

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Photo Credit: USA Today Sports Images

When the Knicks were down 18 points in the third quarter, they could have easily thrown in the towel. What we saw was the desperation and defensive focus we’ve wanted all year as the Knicks outscored the Bucks 33-15 in the fourth to take a dramatic win and snap their losing streak at six. To put it bluntly, we absolutely needed this game.

MELO LEADS THE CHARGE: Carmelo Anthony is playing through a bum shoulder that’s clearly affecting his shooting touch. But the last two games have shown his commitment to adapting his game. He’s tallied 17 assists in that span and had a stat line last night of 26 points, 6 boards and 10 assists. The assists were his most since 2012 and key in keeping the ball moving during the 4th quarter run. Despite his 8/20 shooting, he had enough left in the tank to deliver a dagger three-pointer to put the Knicks up 112-111 with 51 seconds left.

With all that said, it would be prudent if Coach Hornacek strongly considers resting Melo tonight. He’s played his worst basketball this year on back to backs.

PORZINGIS BATTLES THE GREEK FREAK: Our future looks bright. Despite fouling out with 2 minutes remaining, Porzingis’ superb play on both ends of the floor put the Knicks in a position to steal this one. In his 30 minutes, KP scored 24 points (9/14), was 3/4 from downtown, and in one sequence stopped Antetokounmpo twice at the rim in the fourth (Giannis would shoot 1-7 in the quarter).

RON BAKER ANSWERS THE CALL: The Knicks weren’t getting the guard play they needed from Derrick Rose nor Brandon Jennings. Rose shot 4/14 despite dishing 8 assists, and Jennings was abhorrently bad in 5 minutes (0 points, 1 assist, -12). Coach Hornacek took a gamble and played Baker the entire fourth quarter.

Unlike the Phoenix game, Baker didn’t make key late mistakes. He kept the ball movement going and attacked when he had openings. In his 12 minutes he was a +18 with 6 points, 2 boards and 4 assists. Those stats include a steal that lead to a fast-break that put the Knicks up three with 27 seconds remaining, a key defensive rebound, and 2 free throws to seal the game.

LANCE THOMAS’ REDEMPTION: After getting burned on Wednesday by Antetokounmpo, Thomas was locked in this game. He contributed by nailing a few open treys (10 points, 4/4), but most importantly he stripped the Greek Freak with 33 seconds left and New York holding onto a one-point lead. He was unquestionably the most important bench contributor.

Was this win an aberration or a game-changer for the season? We’ll find out tonight against the Pacers.

Stephen A. Smith Apologizes to Carmelo Anthony Over “No Rings” Criticism

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Last week on ESPN’s First Take, Stephen A Smith absolutely ripped Carmelo Anthony for an article where the Knicks star stated he’d still be proud if he finished his career with no rings.

Anthony, who’s still competing for Team USA in Rio, was furious with Smith and made his feelings known on Instagram. Sometime over the last two days, the two spoke over the phone and Anthony made it clear his comments were misinterepeted. In addition, Anthony took Smith to task for lashing out in public before speaking with him personally.

You can see Smith’s full apology below. Hey Stephen A, you don’t want to make an enemy out of Melo.

[Video] Jemele Hill Goes in on Melo – “He is not about winning!”

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With last night’s loss to the Cavs, our 2014-2015 Knicks now hold the distinction of having the worst start in franchise history. Before last night’s game, Jemele Hill took the opportunity to rip Carmelo Anthony as player that’s only concerned with money and not winning.

It’s interesting to see how narratives are adjusted depending on the player. Usually when a player bolts rather than tough out a clear rebuilding period, they are called “ring-chasers” and “unloyal.” Now when we have one that stays, and he’s painted as a money-hungry and unmotivated.

Despite the injuries and some horrid shooting nights, Melo is our most consistent player and has had a decent start to this season (23 points ppg, 6 reb, 3 asst, 45% FG). The rest of the team, the majority of which will probably not be here by next year, is the problem. If Melo was clearly phoning it in, I could see this argument more.

Listen to Jemele’s rant below. Do you agree?

3 to the Head: Melo’s Career-High Nine 3s Lift Knicks Past Hawks

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We’ve seen this scenario before. Just last month against the Sacramento Kings, we saw the ball get batted around and end up at the three-point line where we got our hearts broken. Deja vu looked to be in the cards as Josh Smith, who had swished a three earlier in the quarter, got a wide open look at the basket. Instead, the open shot careened off the rim and the Knicks overcame their bad defense to escape with a narrow 106-104 win.

I wouldn’t call this a good win; it was more of a relief when the final buzzer sounded. Onto the reason’s why.

 

BAD DEFENSE: From the opening tip, the lane stayed wide open and ATL’s Jeff Teague took full advantage of Raymond Felton to the tune of 18 first half points. Felton found his own jumper but couldn’t get any help defense and at times the game resembled a layup drill.

The Hawks would shoot 60% from the field and notch 50 points (!) in the paint. The Knicks continually shot themselves in the foot but having their inept defense eliminate their good offensive runs. At several points throughout the game, the Knicks would go on runs ranging from 16-0 to 7-0 only to have their work erased in a minute by giving up open 3s and layups.

Iman Shumpert was one of the few bright spots on defense in the first half by holding Kyle Krover, coming off 8 three-pointers in his last game against the Celtics, to just 1 point in the first half. For whatever reason, Coach Woodson didn’t play him much at all in the second half.

 

STOUDEMIRE GREAT ONCE AGAIN: Stat put up some excellent numbers again with 18 points on 6-9 shooting and 8 rebounds (4 offensive). With that type of output, we can live with the occasional blunders (3 turnovers) and bad fouls (4). Woodson knows this team’s future is dependent on the chemistry building between our Big Three and he wisely played them together down the stretch.

 

MELO ON FIRE: When he went 1-5 in the first quarter, I expected Melo to have a hard time dealing with Josh Smith for the rest of the night. That went out the window in the second quarter when Melo hit three straight from behind the arc (one damn near at half court). I was highly annoyed when he slammed the ball after getting poked in the eye which lead to a tech late in the fourth, but he immediately redeemed himself with the game-winning “And 1” drive on Josh Smith.

 

PRIGIONI AND SHUMPERT: Prigioni gave us 6 points (all from three) and 4 assists in 10 minutes  which was essential early on in the second quarter. And although he didn’t get to contribute much in the second half, Shumpert provided 2 steals and 8 points in his 19 minutes.

 

Melo’s hero ball worked tonight, but let’s hope the offense gets more varied and in sync as the chemistry builds with Felton and Shump back on the court.

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