League sources have confirmed that Memphis Grizzlies guard Matt Barnes will serve a two-game suspension for an October fistfight with Knicks coach Derek Fisher at the Southern California home of Barnes’ estranged wife.
Fisher, who had reportedly been dating Barnes’ estranged wife Gloria Govan for several months, made a visit to the home while Barnes’ young children were present. One of the children notified Barnes, who raced to the home and confronted Fisher.
BOSTON — New York’s slide continued in Boston with the team showing urgency too late and dropping their fourth straight in a 100-91 defeat to the Celtics.
As was the case last night, the Knicks looked outmatched against a team that showed more poise, execution and diversity in their offense. This game was an alarming example of how inadequate our guard play is on both ends. The backcourt (including subs) produced 14 points on 6/23 shooting. Meanwhile, Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas alone had 21 points and a field day against Jose Calderon. The guards couldn’t keep their assignments out the paint, forcing the defense to collapse to help and opening up other opportunities for Celtics scoring.
On offense, no one is taking it to the hole consistently. We’re a mid-range shooting team that can’t shoot.The Knicks are 43% in field goals for the season. Last night, New York shot 21% from three and 37% from the field, making any hopes of a comeback nil despite getting within 5 points with five minutes remaining.
With no help from the guards, the scoring load fell on Melo and Porzingis, who both put up numbers but couldn’t be efficient. Melo lead all scorers with 29 points (11/26) and 10 rebounds, his second double double on back to back nights. KP went for 16 points (4/13) and 12 rebounds.
Every game is making it clearer is that the Knicks need to make a move for a dynamic guard (or two) before the trade deadline.
Derrick Williams took two women home last night and woke up $750,000 lighter in the jewelry department.
Williams told police that his Tribeca apartment was robbed by two women he took home early Saturday following the Knicks’ victory of the Sixers. According to Williams’ documented account, the unidentified women found a Louis Vuitton bag that contained the expenstive jewelry. They did not stay the night and left before dawn with Williams’ other friends. The Knicks forward discovered ttthe theft Satruday afternoon at 4 p.m. Williams refused to elaborate further when asked about the incident before last night’s home victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Police believe the crime may be the latest in a string of robberies where young women target wealthy men at clubs. Williams met the pair at the Up & Down club, and it’s likely the suspects used falsed names. According to the NY Post, a man was robbed of a Swiss timepiece worth $590,000 by two women he met at a midtown strip club earlier this month.
Williams is in the first year of two-year, $8.8 million dollar contract he signed with New York over the summer.
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D-Will is going to have to charge this one to the game. It’s straight foolishness to have strangers up in your house like that. He’s rich and entitled to spend his free time as he sees fit. But if you’re up for a night of debauchery, take it to an reputable hotel suite. Hope he had insurance on those pieces…
NEW YORK CITY — Karl Anthony Towns “won” his rookie battle against Kristaps Porzingis, but the Knicks, powered by a near triple double from Carmelo Anthony and 29 points from Arron Affalo, held on for a 107-102 victory last night at Madison Square Garden.
Despite the Knicks blowing a 20 point halftime lead and letting the Wolves get within three points in the last minute, you never got the feeling New York would blow the lead. Melo, Galloway and Affalo all hit clutch free throws to ice the game. Moving forward, the first half should be the template for how the Knicks play going forward.
MELO’S BRILLIANCE: This was by far Melo’s best game of the year. When Affalo having the hot hand, Melo focused on defense, rebounding and being a facilitator. His stat line of 20 points (6/15), 15 rebounds and 9 assists shows how much of a two-way threat he can be when his teammates are hitting shots.
AFFALO LESSENS THE LOAD: Affalo was aggressive all night with his outside jumper and slashing to the basket (8/9 from the line). Every game, he contract looks to be an absolute steal.
BENCH PLAY: The Knicks got key contributions from Lance Thomas (14 points, 7 rebounds) and Langston Galloway (12 points, 6 assists). It was great to see Galloway finding confidence in his shot and being locked in on defense. In the crucial final minutes of the fourth, he had a key offensive rebound and a nice chase-down block on Zach LaVine.
PORZINGIS VS. TOWNS: KP was overly excited with this matchup and didn’t shot well (4/14), but his defense was fantastic. The Latvian prince has 7 blocks on the night to go along with 11 points. Towns was a beast all the court wit three-point plays in the post and hitting outside jumpers. He finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
The Knicks are back in action this Friday against the Sixers.
Giving back to the community is where my heart is, so if I can help a couple of people I’m doing my job. I’m blessed to be able to do this work and much more is still to come. – CARMELO ANTHONY
The NBA announced yesterday that Carmelo Anthony is the recipient of the NBA Community Cares Assist Award for the month of November.
Anthony has been involved in several diverse community outreach events in recent months. He partnered with Feed the Children and Avon to provide 800 Bronx families with food, personal care and living essential items for the Thanksgiving holiday. He visited Riker’s Island to speak with incarcerated young men and encouraged rehabilitation. Anthony has also spent extensive time with three children facing life-threatening illnesses via the Make-a-Wish foundation.
Tonight during the Knicks game against the Timberwolves, Anthony will be presented with the award in an on-court ceremony and a NBA donation of $10,000 to the Carmelo Anthony Foundation.
Remember when we were right at .500 a few days ago and seemed ready to fight for playoff contention? Right now the team is playing as bad as last year’s squad. Coming off two losses, you’d think New York would play with urgency. Instead they came out completely flat, mustering just 11 points (5/23, 22%) and falling behind by 18 points at the end of the first quarter.
The embarrassment continued throughout the night. At halftime the score was 60-35. There was a faux run late in the game, but Jazz never let the Knicks get the lead into single digits.
Why did we look so bad? Let’s start with our leader, Carmelo Anthony. He hasn’t looked right in about a week now, and we can speculate whether that’s due to lingering effects of the strep throat illness, banging knees with Giannis Antetokoumpo or a combination of both. He has no lift on his jumpshot nor lateral movement. He mustered just 12 points on 3/11 shooting. The only good thing to say is he played just 25 minutes and should be sufficiently rested. But if he isn’t right physically, I’d rather him sit than aggravate any ailments.
Our second scoring option in rookie Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t much better. He seemed lost trying to cope with the Jazz’s small ball and got yanked after scoring just 4 points (2/8) in 13 minutes of play. I disagreed with Fisher shutting him down like that. When it became clear the game was out of reach, Porzingis should have gotten some time just to learn.
Arron Affalo had been a big help in recent games, but he was also absent in mustering 4 points (2/5) in 21 minutes.
Finally, the Knicks’ defensive switching was again exploited. The constant mismatches allowed the Jazz’s frontline to abuse our guards with easy baskets. Did Fisher find Mike Woodson’s playbook somewhere around the Knicks office? This needs to stop… NOW.
On the Jazz’s side, their lineup outscored the Knicks starters 58-31, powered by Gordon Hayward (24 points) and Derrick Favors (20 points).
Fisher wasn’t forthcoming about adjustment details, but he did mention changing the starting lineup.
Even when you’re winning by a blowout, Sasha Vujacic can still get under your skin. Late in the fourth quarter of the Jazz’s 106-85 massacre of the Knicks, Rodney Hood used a body check to prevent a Vujacic layup and was immediately tossed.
New York has little time to lick their words as they’re back in action tonight against the Kings.
The Nets are enduring their worst season since moving to the Brooklyn. The Knicks added to that misery last night with a 108-91 thrashing at Madison Square Garden. With this being the first night of a back to back, it was important the Knicks get some rest. And considering New York had a 21-point lead after 12 minutes, this entire game was essentially garbage time.
MELO AND KP SHOW: Our two top scorers had a field day, with Melo finding his shooting touch (28 points, 9/18), and Porzingis notching his 10th double double of the season (19 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks). These two played well off of each other with their passing, making everyone’s job easier. Melo did his damage in just 31 minutes of play, so he should have his legs tomorrow Saturday night against the Bucks.
AFFALO ROUNDS OUT THE BIG 3???: Every game, Arron Affalo is looking like the best New York pickup of the offseason. He scored seven of the Knicks’ first nine points and went on to finish with 18. He’s doing damage all over the court which prevents defenses from focusing on Melo and KP. If he can continue contributing 15-18 points per game, New York will be competitive against most teams.
CONSTANT FIRE: New York set a season record with 42 points in the first while holding Brooklyn to 21. By halftime, the score was 65-42. Going into the fourth, it was 92-67. The Knicks finally checked out mentally with just 18 points in the final stanza, allowing Brooklyn to get the loss under 20 points.
CALDERON’S BEST DISHING NIGHT: Our starting point guard only had one point, but he had his best assist night as a Knick with 10. That should give you an indication of how well the ball was moving.
This was one team we couldn’t lose to. With Jahlil Okafor serving the first of a two-game suspension for a street brawl in Boston, the Knicks were able to win this one “comfortably” despite a lazy fourth quarter that saw them post only 18 points.
Without Okafor, the Sixers relied on perimeter shooting. But three-point defense is one of New York’s strong points, and Philly only made nine on the night. On the offensive side, Kristaps Porzingis lead the way with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his ninth double double of the season. Arron Affalo chipped in 13 points while Carmelo Anthony, obviously hampered in his first game back from strep throat, had 12 points on 5/16 shooting.
The Knicks will battle the Friday Night Curse tonight with they meet the Brooklyn Nets.
I think I just need to get some consistent minutes. I haven’t been able to find that in the places I’ve been. – Jimmer Fredette
D-League draft pick Jimmer Fredette will be in consideration for the Knicks’ last roster spot with his 37 point performance last night.
Fredette was making his first D-League appearance for the Westchester Knicks as they played the Grand Rapids Drive. The Knicks won the game 102-90 with Cleanthony Early, who’s since been called back to main roster, adding 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Fredette won national player of the year honors in college and was the 10th overall pick in the 2011 draft. Considered a bust, he played in four games for the Pelicans last month before being cut.
Can he salvage his NBA career under the bright lights of the Madison Square Garden stage?
![[Video] Melo’s Near Triple Double and Porzingis’s Block Party Lead Knicks Over Timberwolves 107-102](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/towns_porzingis.png?w=716&h=479&crop=1)
![[Video] Rodney Hood Ejected for Flagrant Foul on Sasha Vujacic](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/knicks_vujacic.jpg?w=641&h=319&crop=1)
![[Video] Melo and Porzingis Pound Nets in 108-91 Victory](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/melo_porzingis.jpg?w=825&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Fredette Drops 37 in Knicks D-League Debut, Early Adds 19](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ferdette_knicks.jpg?w=396&h=510&crop=1)
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