Carmelo Anthony etched his name in Olympic history by becoming international basketball’s all-time leading scorer for a 98-88 win over Australia yesterday. Team USA was down at halftime but rallied behind Anthony’s 26 points (14 in the fourth quarter) and a scorching 9-15 from three-point range.
Anthony passed LeBron James with 293 points and is poised to become the only player to win three Olympic gold medals. Save some of that fire for the upcoming season, Melo.
Carmelo Anthony is expanding his partnership with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle brand with the release of a limited edition comic book. You can find participating stores at http://www.comicshoplocator.com. Melo and the turtles previously linked up for an exclusive Macy’s clothing line.
Any chance one of the Turtles can run point guard for us next season?
Having missed the playoffs three straight years, new Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek has much to address this off-season. In a quick interview with the New York Knicks YouTube page, he revealed that his primary concern is adding capable shooters around frontcourt stars Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis.
Our starting backcourt shot a respectable percentage from three this season (Afflalo 38%, Calderon 41%), but the big problem was neither could consistently get their own shot and put the ball on the floor (Afflalo’s brief flashes of competency aside).
Sounds like Hornacek is like us in hoping Phil can put together a free agency miracle.
The Knicks blew a 16-point second half lead but relied on late heroics from Carmelo Anthoy and Jose Calderon to pull out a 90-87 win at Staples Center.
The game came down to a broken play with the scored knotted at 87. After nearly two violations (inbounds and backcourt) and Melo not getting free, Calderon was left to make something happen.
He did by getting free behind the arc for his only three-pointer of the night.
The Knicks looked like they were going to pack it in when the Lakers went up by five with less than four minutes remaining. But Melo lifted them with seven straight points (12 in fourth) to get the Knicks back in it. Kobe Bryant, who was nursing a sore right shoulder, made three key jumpers in the final minutes to set up the thrilling finish.
The Knicks will need all the confidence they can from this game as next up are the defending champion Golden State Warriors.
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This weekend was abuzz with trade rumors after a story broke that Knicks, Cavs and Celtics were in preliminary talks about a trade that would send Carmelo Anthony to Cleveland, Kevin Love to Boston, and high draft picks to New York.
The crux of the piece is that Anthony, who is aging and suffering from recurring soreness on his surgically repaired left knee, would want to join forces with his close friend LeBron James in hopes of winning an NBA title. Another theorized trade includes Anthony going to the Clippers, where he would also be teaming with a close friend in Chris Paul.
There’s only one problem — Melo loves New York and has no desire to leave. Much like two summers ago when everyone claimed his best shot to win a title was going to Chicago, now the rumblings from media and some fans is the Knicks need to go into rebuild mode. Last night, Melo emphasized his commitment to the Knicks and doubled down this morning in an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio:
There’s always some trade shit going, I don’t pay attention to those rumors. I’m not going anywhere.
So there you have it. Melo is staying, just as Knicks President Phil Jackson said going into All-Star weekend. The irony is Melo has been the one elite player in five years that’s wanted to play and win in New York. And here we have some fans and media that want to run him out of town and start over. Have you forgotten the Dark Ages that were the early to mid 2000s already?
For the second straight game, the Knicks went into overtime, executed better, and defeated a scrappy foe. Last night it was the Utah Jazz, lead by Gordon Hayward’s 27 points and Rodney Hood’s 27 points, that refused to go away until New York edged the OT scoring battle 19-12 to pull out a 118-111 victory.
Yes, New York made it harder than necessary. But these were the type of games we lost regularly last year. We’re now seeing a poise and clutch factor that will be essential to our playoff hopes.
2ND QUARTER DROUGHT AND PLAYING FROM BEHIND: New York went over five minutes in the second without scoring a single point, allowing the Jazz to put together a 13-0 run and go into halftime with a 48-37 lead. Until late in the fourth, the Knicks were playing catch up and struggling to contain the Jazz’s outside shooting (44% from three-point range).
MELO LEADS THE CHARGE: Our leader scored 22 of his game-high 30 points in the second half. Melo did most of his damage in the paint, including several late dunks and nifty passes (9 assists) to keep other guys involved. He hit Williams (18 points), Afflalo (14 points) and Galloway (9 points) during crucial fourth quarter possessions for three-pointers.
And remember Melo did this in his second game back from an ankle sprain and just one game removed from logging 49 minutes in double OT against the Sixers.
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ROBIN LOPEZ OWNS THE PAINT: Rolo delivered a marvelous stat line of 22 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. He battled tooth n’ nail the entire night and made sure driving guards got nothing easy at the rim.
PORZINGIS’ LEARNING CURVE: Our star rookie was had to sit in overtime after fouling out via a bonehead foul on Gordon Hayward’s three point attempt. The foul was especially costly as it came with 9 seconds left and New York leading 99-96. Hayward sunk his free throws and the Knicks had to end matters in overtime.
“There were a couple of unnecessary fouls for me that I can avoid and I’ve got to learn from those,” Porzingis told ESPN. “I’ve got to learn from my mistakes. It’s frustrating to sit on the bench and in overtime.”
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BACK AT .500, BUT FOR HOW LONG?: The Knicks sit at 22-22 and just a half game behind Boston for the final playoff spot. Should New York put together a win streak, jumping as high as fifth isn’t impossible with Indiana holding just a two-game lead.
But let’s temper excitement. In recent weeks, the Knicks have gone on losing streaks every time they’ve hit .500. Getting over the hump won’t be easy as the Clippers come to town on Friday.
NEW YORK — The Knicks received by efforts from Robin Lopez (11 points, 6 blocks) and Derrick Williams (18 points) to snap a four-game losing streak and beat the Pistons 108-96 at Madison Square Garden.
Melo lead the way with 24 points and kept the Knicks close throughout until Williams exploded for 16 points in the fourth on 5-6 shooting. The team effort was rounded out with Calderon (15 points), Kyle O’Quinn (12 points) and Kristaps Porzingis (10 points).
The main threat coming in was Andre Drummond, and the Knicks did a superb job of throwing different bodies at him and keeping him from dominating the glass. Although no Knick had more than 7 rebounds, Drummond was held to 13 points (5/15) and 9 rebounds. Leading the way for Detroit were Ersan Ilyasova (19 points) and Reggie Jackson (17 points).
A big positive to take from this game is the Knicks are 11-2 when they score at least 100 points. But a glaring problem this season has been the losing streaks — this was the third time the Knicks had lost four straight. If we hope to get a playoff spot, these stretches of futility cannot keep happening.
The Knicks are back in action on New Year’s Day against the Bulls.
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
Source: NBA.com
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.
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.
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ORLANDO — We need to stay out of Florida for the foreseeable future. After dropping a turd of a performance on Monday against the Heat, I swore the team would get it together on pride alone for the Magic last night. Instead, we pretty much equaled Monday’s futility with horrid shooting from the field (37%) and sheer ineptitude from the bench.
The Magic didn’t shoot well either during the first half, but they put together a key run in the second to go up by double digits at halftime, 46-35. By the time we started hitting shots, scoring 28 points in both the third and fourth quarters, the Magic got by on getting to the line (27-32 FT) to win comfortably.
Speaking of the fouls, the Knicks were on the wrong side on many questionable ones. Jason Smith were very physical with Porzingis to the point of knocking him down and standing over him while talking trash. That move prompted Melo to get right in his face and that put an end to the nonsense. However, Smith didn’t get a tech for his behavior while Melo got one later for mouthing off.
Speaking of Melo, he and Calderon were the only ones that had strong offensive games. Melo dropped 28 points (9/17) and grabbed 13 boards. Calderon had his best scoring output as a Knick with 23 points on 50% shooting.
Four of the five starters hit double figures, but the bench failed again to keep the team in position to win. They were outscored 43-12 by Orlando’s reserves, mostly due to Victor Oladipo dropping 24 points. Some of the blame there needs to be placed on Derek Fisher’s bad rotations. Some of the lineups, like ones featuring Seraphin, O’Quinn, Thomas, Vujacic and Grant made you wonder who was supposed to score. Inevitably, lineups like that allowed Magic to stretch their leads.
Once again, a bad game from Porzingis was still productive. The Latvian rookie had 10 points (3/13 FG), 8 rebounds and 6 blocks. His best highlight was one of those blocks turning back an Oladipo dunk. His challenge in these type of games is continuing to look for smart shots over forcing it.
Fisher better be using this Thanksgiving to get his rotations together for a revenge game on Black Friday against the Heat.
![[Video] Carmelo Anthony Becomes Team USA’s All-Time Leading Scorer in Win Over Australia](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/melo_teamusaleader.png?w=825&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Hornacek Wants More Shooters Around Melo and Porzingis](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/hornacek_knicks.jpg?w=768&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Calderon Buzzer Beater Steals Show in Final Kobe-Melo Duel](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/calderon_kobe_game_winner.jpg?w=825&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Melo’s 30 pts, 9 asts Lead Knicks to OT Win Over Jazz](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/melo_dunk_knicks_jazz.png?w=714&h=510&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)
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