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 was too pissed off to write about this game last night. After three quarters of competent basketball, the Knicks players and coaching staff reverted back to their worst traits and received the most crushing loss of the season in an overtime loss to the Rockets.
What makes this loss so heartbreaking and infuriating? Let’s look at a few facts.
The Knicks shot 58% from the field.
Without Melo (out with an illness), the two next best scorers stepped up big time — Arron Affalo had 31 points (13/19) 7 rebounds and 4 assists while Kristaps Porzingis chipped in 20 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks.
New York was up by 14 points with less than 10 minutes left in the game.
AND WE STILL LOST!!! A closer look at the numbers reveals why.
New York started playing defense with their hands in the fourth quarter and allowed Houston to live at the line. Overall, the Rockets got a staggering 36 trips to the charity stripe. Where some of those fouls suspect? Absolutely. But too often the Knicks put themselves in bad positions where the ref’s flaky dispositions become a factor.
Horrible turnovers. This marked the fourth and OT with Calderon, normally reliable with the ball, having five of them. Galloway and Seraphin also had costly brain farts that allowed Houston to snatch the lead.
Coach Fisher seemed to have a handle on the rotations until it counted. Kevin Serpahin had a great game off the bench (14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks), but his turnovers (5) helped kill the team in crunch time. 32 minutes was probably too much and Robin Lopez’s defense would have been the better tradeoff.
A lot of fans have been complaining about the uncalled moving screen Dwight Howard put on Arron Affalo, which allowed Trevor Ariza to hit a dagger three-pointer. My issue is the Knicks should have never been in that position by allowing Houston to go on a 12-0 run to help push that game into OT.
On Wednesday, we play the Sixers, who at press time are still winless. We can’t possibly loss to them, right?
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.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK — We still haven’t fixed our fourth quarter woes, but I’ll tolerate them if we keep pulling out victories. Last night, the Knicks saw their 16-point lead erased by a 24-11 run in the fourth quarter but avoided overtime and defeated the Thunder on the road 93-90.
Bad fourth aside, there was a lot of good to take away from this one. Melo was clutch (aside from two missed free throws) in his 25 points, hitting some timely shots to OKC at bay. Lance Thomas and Derrick Williams were our biggest bench contributors with a combined 21 points with 60% shooting from downtown.
Speaking of threes, New York was 12/20 on the night while holding OKC to 10% (3/29) from deep.
Nonetheless, the Thunder were one lucky bounce from taking this game into overtime. We lost the rebounding battle badly (36-49) and will need to tighten that up tonight against the Rockets.
I think it’s safe to say we’ll be hearing that chant at Madison Square Garden for years to come. With no foul trouble holding him back, Kristaps Porzingis put it all together tonight with the best game of his young career (29 points, 11 rebounds) as the Knicks beat the Hornets 102-94. Although this was yet another game with fourth quarter woes, our team showed resilience in tightening up and getting the job done.
DREAM SHAKES AND LETHAL LONG-BALL: Porzingis was all over the court tonight. His teammates kept him involved on the perimeter and fed him down low. His showed how killer he can be in the post with a smooth Dream Shake fadeaway. His hands were active around the basket and that made Melo confident in feeding him for layups:
Offensively he came through for us. It felt good to hear his name chanted in the arena. I’m proud of him.
Melo’s passing (5 assists) and rebounding (11) were strong, but his shooting touch was off (6/18). He missed numerous layups at the rim, and usually a night like this would produce a Knicks loss. Porzingis showed his value in not just being a strong second option, but also being able to take over on a cold Melo shooting night.
And when we have nights where both are shooting well and scoring over 20? Whew, watch out league…
HORNETS 2ND UNIT HAS OUR NUMBER: Once again, the Hornets benched outscored ours 41-27. Jeremy Lin had a strong second quarter where he got to the rim at will (13 points). Even Spencer Hawes was balling for a stretch, hitting two three pointers and finishing with 14 points. Luckily, the Hornets as a whole took some sloppy shots late in the fourth and the Knicks were able to pull away. Kemba Walker decided he wanted to show out for his hometown (31 points), but his one-man show wasn’t enough.
UNSUNG HEROES: Much attention will be paid to Porzingis’ big night, but several cast members made this victory possible. Arron Affalo looked for his shot the entire night, dropping 16 points and doing his part (along with Melo) to hold Nic Batum to 1/9 shooting. Langston Galloway (9 points, 4 rebounds) continues to hit clutch shots (usually threes) to lift our team in key moments. His three to close the third put us up 80-72. The Hornets would get close, but never got the lead.
NEW YORK – We got another home win! There were some nail-biting moments in the fourth, but it was the Pelicans who struggled more in crunch time as the Knicks rode huge efforts from Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Seraphin to hold off the Pelicans 95-87. Coach Fisher still have lots to work out in regards to rotations, but our group is remaining confident and making the most of their minutes.
SERAPHIN STEPS UP: The Knicks need a “X-factor” contribution every night to win most games, and on Sunday that came from Frenchman Kevin Seraphin. No doubt inspired by the recent tragic attacks in his country, Seraphin provided 12 points which helped offset a monstrous performance by Anthony Davis (36 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocks). Seraphin shot 6/8 and hit some clutch fourth quarter shots on Davis, which I believe slowed The Brow down enough to help New York slip away.
MELO UNDER CONTROL: Carmelo Anthony had one of his most complete games of the season, notching 29 points on 52% shooting to go with 12 rebounds. He got seven free throws, stayed aggressive going to the basket, and was smart with his long and mid-range shots. When he missed a few in a row, he made sure to look to get teammates involved and didn’t force matters.
PORZINGIS FEARLESS IN SCHOOLING: Our rookie got abused by Davis more often than not, but he stayed aggressive and looked for his shot all night. This was in spite of Davis blocking him several times.
We’re now hovering right below .500 again as the Hornets come to town Tuesday night. We better be looking for revenge.
In all honestly, I planned on doing a recap of this game on Wednesday, but I was too pissed off. The Cavs were begging the Knicks to beat them. Their three-point shooting was non-existent, defense suspect, and LeBron couldn’t get into a shooting rhythm.
But never fear Knicks opponents, victory is always within reach when Jose Calderon is on the floor! The season is young, but it’s no hyperbole to state Calderon is the worst starting point guard in the league. On paper, his stats are atrocious — 4.6 pts (27% FG), 2.4 assists, and three-point shooting at 31%. But the eye test is where Calderon looks even worse. He literally can’t keep any opposing guard in front of him. Mo Williams dropped 22 points on him. Amazingly, Fisher had Calderon playing in the final seven minutes. At the time, the game was even. A few minutes of errant passes and stagnated offensive sets later, we found ourselves down by double digits.
WHERE ART THOU SHOT, MELO???: Games like this are when we could really use the old Melo. Unfortunately, most athletes don’t hit the ground running after major knee surgery, so I’m not expecting Melo to return to form completely until around late December. Despite the bad shooting (17 points, 6/18), Melo was strong with his defense on LeBron (23 points, 9/23) and getting boards (12).
PORZINGIS EXCELS…WHEN HE’S ON THE COURT: Our rook continued to impress. In 21 minutes, he put up 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. He’s currently leading the team in the latter two categories. The problem is the foul trouble kept him benched for long stretches in the second half. It really hurt us because he went out midway in the third just when he had started putting repeated buckets on Kevin Love. Outside of his brain fart fouls, Calderon’s issues with keeping his man out the paint contributed to Kris’ fouling. Nonetheless, Kris’ confidence is growing. Phil got us a gem.
The Knicks are back and we’re undefeated! Look, I know it’s just one game, but after last year we need every chance to celebrate.
Before our Garden faithful, the Knicks dominated the Brazilian Paschoalotto Bauru 100-81, blowing the game open by outscoring them 36-19 in the second quarter.
Carmelo Anthony showed no signs of any issues on his surgically repaired left knee, scoring 17 points in 20 minutes on 8/10 shooting. The squad also got big efforts from our newly acquired big men Kevin Seraphin (14 points, 7/11) and Kyle O’Quinn (14 points, 5/7).
Our prized rookie, Kristaps Porzingis, had a rocky start (2 misses and 2 turnovers to start), but eventually settled down to contribute 7 (2 three-pointers) points in 21 minutes. You see the potential, but you also see the long road of work ahead — the standout sore area is rebounding (just 2).
The Knicks are back in action tomorrow with a road game against the Washington Wizards.
Since hitting my radar via his hilarious on-court impersonations of Russell Westbrook and James Harden, I’ve been waiting for BdotAdot5 to deliver his take on our very own Carmelo Anthony. Here it is. You think he included enough jab steps?
On Friday, some new footage dropped of Carmelo Anthony having a pickup game with rookie Kristaps Porzingis and second-year player Cleanthony Early. Since this isn’t an official training session, there isn’t much to gather from this outside of Melo’s jumper still being wet, Early’s defense remaining shoddy, and the guys are hopefully learning each other’s tendencies to build much-needed chemistry.
![[Video] No Melo, No Closer: Knicks Blow 14-Point 4th Quarter Lead in OT Loss to Rockets](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/harden_oquinn.jpg?w=715&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Knicks Hold Off Late Thunder Run, Win 93-90](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/lancethomas_dunk.jpg?w=716&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Porzingis’ Career High 29 Leads Knicks Over Hornets](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/melo_porzingis.jpg?w=716&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Melo and Seraphin Lead Knicks Past Pelicans 95-86](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/seraphin_knicks.jpg?w=714&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Say No To Calderon: Cavs 96, Knicks 86](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/josecalderon_mowilliams.jpg?w=717&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Melo, Knicks Excel in Preseaon Debut, Blow Out Brazil 100-81](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/porzingis_debut.jpg?w=598&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Jab Step! “Carmelo Anthony Be Like…”](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/melo_3taunt.jpg?w=305&h=510&crop=1)
![[Video] Melo Practices with Porzingis and Early at Terminal 23](https://nykloyalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/melo_hawks.jpg?w=352&h=234&crop=1)
NEW YORK KNICKS LOYALIST 