Tag: video

[Video] Sweet Revenge: Knicks Pummel Celtics 114-88

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It’s always a great evening when the Celtics get smashed. The worst defeat the Knicks suffered this season was an embarrassing 41-point defeat to Boston at home, so it was highly appropriate that New York returned the favor with this rout. 

 

MELO SETS THE TONE: The Knicks came out the gate with Carmelo Anthony dropping 2 assists via backdoor cuts from Iman Shumpert. The team quickly followed the ball movement lead to a 12-0 run that had New York up 18-5. JR Smith added two triples and when the first quarter ended, the Knicks had 9 assists on 62% shooting for a 31-15 cushion. The sparks for this great start were Melo (11 points, 2 assists, 2 steals), Tyson Chandler (5 rebounds) and Kenyon Martin (4 points, 1 block).

BENCH FIREPOWER: There was no dropoff when the second unit came in to start the second quarter. In fact, the Knicks bench blew the game open. Lead by Jeremy Tyler delivering his best game of the season (17 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks), New York had 63 points from the reserves, allowing Melo and company to get extended rest in the second and all of the fourth quarter. JR chipped in 17, and Tim Hardaway Jr. added his dribble penetration and deadly 3-point shooting for 16 points.

CHANDLER ON THE RISE: It was a struggle his first few games back, but Chandler is starting to get back into a groove on offense and defense (12 points, 13 rebounds). He was the recipient of several nasty alley-oops, and when Tyson gets those touches his defensive intensity picks up. 

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AUDITION FOR RONDO?: In the off-season, stories began circulating that Melo was pushing for the Knicks to sign Rondo. A few months back, Rondo’s high school coach said Melo was actively trying to recruit him. Rondo is just six games back into his comeback from ACL surgery, so he doesn’t have his legs and looked pretty bad out there (7 points, 5 assists, 4 turnovers). 

However, if Rondo can get back to his old form, he’d be a huge asset for Melo’s game. All ACL injuries aren’t created the same, so I’m sure the Knicks will be monitoring his progress closely to see if he bounces back like Shumpert, or slides  further like we’ve seen with Derrick Rose. I’m banking on the former happening.

THREE AND NO REASON TO STOP: The Knicks are on a three game winning streak and have the Cleveland Cavaliers next on Thursday (January 30). The Cavs are struggling having lost four of their last five, so the Knicks should keep this streak going.

SOUR NOTES: Shumpert left the game early with a right shoulder strain, a re-aggravation of an injury he suffered in the pre-season. K-Mart was also forced to sit after re-aggravating his left ankle sprain. Metta World Peace returned, so we’ll just have to pray he can step up with spot minutes if K-Mart misses any extended time.

 

 

[Video] Team Effort: Melo, Felton and Chandler Power Knicks Past Lakers

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NEW YORK CITY, NY — Weekend afternoon games have not been kind to the Knicks this season. Whether it’s due to partying or just lack of focus is anyone’s guess. This wasn’t an issues yesterday (well, at least on offense) as New York but together a total team effort highlighted by big games from Carmelo Anthony (35 points), Tyson Chandler (13 points, 14 rebounds), Raymond Felton (20 points), Tim Hardaway Jr. (18 points) and JR Smith (16 points) to take their latest “must-win” game over the Los Angeles Lakers. The last thing the Knicks needed was a letdown after Melo’s 62 point game and for now, the momentum is still intact.

DEFENSE NEED NOT APPLY: A win is a win, but it was disturbing how badly the Knicks guarded the perimeter. The Lakers burned them for 11 treys on 47% shooting. Felton was the culprit most of the time, but others were pretty lax closing out on the shooters until the final minutes of the game. Jodie Meeks (24 pts) had a 13 points in the third and was a scorching 6/8 from downtown.

The post defense got off to a bad start with Pau Gasol (20 pts) before our trio of bigs, lead by Chandler, clamped down in the second half.

AROUND THE RIM ISSUES: Jeremy Tyler and Cole Aldrich had some really good defensive stops and rebounds, but their offense also had you yelling at the TV. On about four occasions they missed point-blank shots at the rim. Once they get more comfortable with their playing time, that should cease.

THJ: Our rookie was on fire. Tim went 4/5 from downtown and attacked the basket for a sweet 3-point play. His best sequence came in the third when he swished a three-pointer and was the recipient of a Melo alley-oop to extend the NY lead to 83-79.

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FUN FACT: Since resigning from the Knicks and going to LA, Mike D’Antoni is winless at Madison Square Garden. Expect Melo to keep it that way.

On Wednesday, the Knicks will host the Boston Celtics.

[Video] History at MSG: Melo Sets Franchise Record with 62 Points in Bobcats Blowout

I can’t accept all this losing – CARMELO ANTHONY

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Simply amazing. Less than 24 hours ago, I was witnessed to one of the greatest moments I’ve seen in my years as a Knicks fan with Carmelo Anthony torching the Bobcats for 62 points. Melo didn’t just establish a career-high, but he also broke Bernard King’s record for not only the highest scoring game in Madison Square Garden and franchise history.

Everyone has a different story of when they realized this game was going to be special. Some caught on as early as the first quarter when Melo dropped 20 points. For otherslike myself, it was when he punctuated a 37 point half with a pin-point halfcourt shot.

The other Knicks took Melo’s lead and did what we haven’t seen consistently all season; they picked up the slack in other areas. The defense was strong in with the guards keeping their men in front of them and not relying on switching. The Knicks executed several fast breaks . They didn’t rely on jumpers and attacked the paint (most notably JR Smith). Coach Woodson also played based on performance, letting young Jeremy Tyler (8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks) get more valuable minutes (22) over Tyson Chandler, who was having another so-so game (2 points, 6 rebounds).

Back to Melo. Let’s go behind these numbers. In 39 minutes, he shot 23/35 from the field overall (66%) and 6/10 from downtown (60%). He made all 10 free throws, lead the game with 13 rebounds, and committed zero turnovers. And for those detractors who want to snicker at the fact he had zero assists, that just lets me know you didn’t watch the game, as he had several “hockey assists” passing out OF double teams in the post that lead to open shots.

Apparently, this performance was inspired by a Muhammad Ali speech that was played for the team before the game. Melo’s entire demeanor was different as he didn’t crack a smile until going to the bench after that 62nd point.

Now it’s time to let Melo’s game speak for itself. Watch the highlights and be astounded. We can only hope this becomes the spark that gets the team inspired to finish the year strong. If you want to trade this man or see him leave, you must be insane.

ALL OF MELO’S 62 POINTS

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HIGHLIGHTS

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LEBRON JAMES CONGRATULATES MELO ON INSTAGRAM

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[Video] Bargnani Tears Elbow Ligament on Botched Dunk, Out Indefinitely

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Knicks forward Andrea Bargnani is now out indefinitely after being diagnosed with a torn ligament in his left elbow.

Bargnani suffered the injury while attempting a dunk in the third quarter of an eventual 110-106 defeat to the Sixers. Bargnani was undercut on the dunk and landed awkwardly on his elbow. He remained in the game until early fourth quarter.

Bargnani had played in every game this season, averaging 13 points and 5 rebounds.

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So how many bigs do we have left? With Stoudemire and K-Mart out, we’re left with Tyson Chandler, Jeremy Tyler and Cole Aldrich. Coach Woodson isn’t high on giving the latter two significant minutes, but we don’t have much choice at this point. The “indefinitely” tag has me worried we won’t see Bargs back until after the All-Star break.

A Change Is Gonna Come — Nets 103, Knicks 80

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Remember that five game winning streak earlier this month? With the way the Knicks have played during this four-game skid, that streak feels like it took place last season. As you can see from the above quote and the look of disgust on Melo’s face, this team is in shambles from the top down. To show you how bad thing have gotten, this is the first time our rival Nets have blown us out since the move to Brooklyn. The Knicks were never in it: bad (switching) defense, vapid guard play and just overall weak decision-making.

As Avery Johnson pointed out during halftime, Carmelo Anthony (26 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals) can’t just will a broken team to winning with just a few more passes. Apparently, he’s also supposed to handle point guard dribble penetration and defending the perimeter. Y’know, be the “leader” some fans and critics claim he isn’t being despite the fact he’s the onl yplayer consistently playing hard every night.

Drastic roster changes are needed if the Knicks have any hope of keeping Melo, or attracting any other big name free agents for that matter, in the coming seasons.

[Video] No JR Needed – Knicks Soar Against Heat 102-92

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The Knicks put together the best home win of the season last night with a complete team effort in defeating the Heat. After two months, the team (sans JR Smith) finally looks to have turned a corner.

MELO GETS HIS HELP: The question going into every game is who will help Melo with the scoring load. At their worst, the Knicks predictably dump the ball to Melo, many times with less than 10 seconds on the shot clock, for a low-percentage isolation shot.

Outside of the first few possessions, the Knicks were at their best in terms of ball movement, guarding the passing lanes, and attacking Miami’s weak interior defense. Andrea Bargnani (19 points), Iman Shumpert (12 points, 9 rebounds), Amar’e Stoudemire (14 poitns, 11 rebounds) and Raymond Felton (13 points, 14 assists) were the “secondary Big Four” that took the load off Melo and allowed him to operate more freely on offense.

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MELO VS. LEBRON: We didn’t get to see as much of this as we should have. When they did guard each other, Melo got the better of it. LeBron was still able to have a monster stat line (32 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists) just because he’s the best player in the league, and poor Bargnani found himself switched off onto him way too many times.

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MIAMI HELPS OUT AT THE FREE THROW LINE: The Heat could have made this a tighter game simply by hitting their free throws. They shot a very poor 52% (11/21) with Dwyane Wade being the main culprit (0-6). New York wasn’t any better at 50% (5/10).

TIM HARDAWAY JR: THJ made a new poster at the expense of Jesus Shuttlesworth aka Ray Allen. Yeah, our rookie got game.

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THE 16-0 RUN: After getting embarrassed by a LeBron baseline dunk, Bargnani came right back with a three-point play on Wade to ignite a 9-0 run to end the fourth, highlighted by two Melo treys and Hardaway’s spectacular tip-in dunk. Usually with JR Smith in the 2nd unit lineup that starts the fourth, the Knicks have been giving up leads and momentum. This time, the point guard play of Toure Murry had Bargnani and Stoudemire carving up the Heat in the post and at mid-range.

CLOSING STRONG: When Felton came back in, there wasn’t any drop-off. Ray continued attacking the paint, which collapsed the Heat defense and got nice looks for Melo and Stat. And when Melo got what appeared to be an isolation play, Felton and others cut to basket allowing for easy layups and dunks. Felton also keep the defense honest by hitting several long jumpers.

ROLES DEFINED: The Knicks are finally playing like a team and everyone appears to know their roles. You can see the confidence and they should have it, considering two of their last four wins have come against the defending Eastern and Western Conference champions.

JR SMITH: Our knucklehead shooting guard sulked on the bench most of the night, but did put up an obligatory standing ovation at the final buzzer. In the locker room, he pouted about whether he still has a “future” on the team. We’ll see if JR finally wakes up, but I think he’s earned at least 2 games on the bench.

 

[Video] Rest Easy, NBA Shoelaces: JR Smith Fined $50K for Unsportsmanlike Conduct

This is unacceptable. It’s just got to stop. – MIKE WOODSON

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JR Smith’s reign of terror on the shoelaces of fellow NBA players has come to end with the league announcement of a $50,000 fine for what the NBA has termed as “repeated unsportsmanlike conduct.”

The fine came down after footage from last night’s win over the Detroit Pistons exposed Smith attempting to untie the laces of Greg Monroe while at the free throw line. This was the third time Smith has been caught in camera doing this. It was previous done against the Maverick’s Shawn Marion and the Rockets’ Dwight Howard.

Prior to last night’s game, Knicks coach Mike Woodson declared that Smith’s behavior had no place in basketball. Smith revealedon Twitter that he usually does the shoelace trick at least once a game.

At press time, Smith has not commented on the fine.

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JR is going to learn one day that his reputation precedes him and not in a good way. After missing the first five games of the season due to a drug suspension, you’d think he’d be more careful in how he carries himself. D-Wade got away with a lot worse against the Knicks a few years back in the playoffs and that’s only because he doesn’t have a rep for involving himself in nonsense (at least on the court). And it didn’t help Smith any that Rod Thorn, the NBA Director of Operations, was in attendance last night.

If you already don’t like JR, you’ll use this as just another example of how he’s a detriment to the team. For me, an untied shoelace is the least of my worries. If anything, his play so far this year justifies few fines. Still, I’m maintaining my All-Star break deadline for him to get it together. I also haven’t forgotten Woody’s early season proclamation that the off-season knee-surgery will take JR most of the season to bounce back from. In the meantime, Woody needs to put some backbone behind his words and sit JR when his actual play becomes a liability.

[Video] Shump the Closer — Knicks 92, Mavs 80

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It’s not the 3-0 Texas sweep it should have been, but we’ll take it. The Knicks came out with the same fire they showed earlier this week against the Rockets, but made better decisions down the stretch to pull out a 92-80 victory over the Mavericks, making it a 2-1 trip to the Lone Star state with an additional win over San Antonio.

MELO STARTS IT, SHUMP ENDS IT: Carmelo Anthony came out on fire in the first quarter, scoring 15 of his 19 points. The Mavs looked lethargic and the Knicks took full advantage on offense and defense, outscoring Dallas 29-17 and holding their shooting under 40%.

In the final minutes of the fourth with the Mavs down just six points, Iman Shumpert scored seven points in the remaining two minutes to ice the game, including a fearless layup drive around Dirk Nowitzki. His stat sheet will only show 9 points, but they were the most impactful of the game (along with his three steals, one coming late in the third to stifle a Mavs run). Defense wins games, and with Shumpert refocused in that area, there is absolutely no reason to not have him on the court during crunch time.

K-MART GETS NY THROUGH SCORING DROUGHT: Down 52-35 at halftime, the Mavs made a strong push in the third while the Knicks went ice-cold on offense. Vince Carter, Jose Calderon, and Monta Ellis all nailed treys to help get the lead in single digits. However, Kenyon Martin had one of his better games of the season, scoring the majority of his 14 points in the third quarter to allow the Knicks to maintain a 10-point lead (67-57) going into the fourth.

STOP THE JR SMITH LOVE AFFAIR, WOODY: I’m on record as giving JR until the All-Star break to get it together. Nonetheless, that doens’t mean play him when it’s a detriment to the team. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 10 points, including a crucial three-point play in the third. He provided good minutes early in the fourth before getting pulled for JR, who immediately had issues not turning the ball over and leaving Mavs guards open on the perimeter. If it wasn’t for Shumpert, the Mavs might have stolen this one.

JR did at least provide one hilarious moment during the game.

NOW DO IT AT HOME: The Knicks have been a decent road team and horrible at home. For the rest of the month, 10 of the 13 games NY plays will be at home. This will likely be the period that makes or breaks our playoff hopes considering the majority of the opponents have sub-.500 records.

[Video] Welcome Back, Shump! — Knicks 105, Spurs 101

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What a difference a competent shooting guard makes. We’ve saw a flash of it during the Nets win earlier this season, and Iman Shumpert reminded us last night why most fans were so high on him going into this season as he dropped a career-high 27 points to lead the Knicks to their best win of the season over the Spurs.

 

1-2 PUNCH: The Knicks had an excellent inside-outside game going with Carmelo Anthony’s return and Shumpert’s fiery outside shooting. Melo chipped in 27 points on 50% shooting and nabbed 12 rebounds. When he drew double teams, he and the rest of the teammates looked for Shump behind the three-point line for open treys. This allowed Iman to not have to worry about putting the ball on the floor and keep the Spurs defense spaced out.

THE SPURS’ BEST WEAPON: Although New York kept Tim Duncan (9 points, 7 rebounds) and Tony Parker (12 points, 7 assists) contained, the game was close due to Marco Belinelli playing possessed and dropping 32 points (6 threes, 12-16 shooting overall). It wasn’t until the final two offensive plays, where he badly bricked two threes, that he finally came back down to earth.

SHOOTING WELL: The Knicks maintained a strong shooting percentage the entire game, hitting 51% of their shots, including a hot 9-17 (53%) from downtown.

MURRY OR UDRIH?: Beno Udrih go to play the crucial final minutes of the fourth and almost blew the game with a near turnover. His defense was also a struggle. Murry is still learning out there, but I haven’t forgotten how Udrih blew that Wizards game by not being able to keep his man in front of him. I hope to see Murry’s minutes get around the 20 minute mark until Felton and Prigioni’s return.

NO TIME TO REST ON LAURELS: The Knicks are now 11-21 and 4 1/2 games behind the division-leading Toronto Raptors. The upcoming schedule features the Rockets (tonight), Dallas, Detroit and Miami through next Thursday. The team will need to bring the same effort we saw yesterday to get through this stretch with a winning record.

[Video] Carmelo Anthony’s Rolled Ankle Puts OKC Christmas Game In Doubt

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Carmelo Anthony is hopeful that he’ll be able to play in tomorrow’s big Christmas game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but cautioned that the ankle injury he suffered against the Orlando Magic Monday night makes it a game-time decision.

Anthony, who’s second behind Kevin Durant in league scoring this year, explained that the ankle roll was not as severe as it could have been.

“I’m walking. I caught it before I rolled it all the way but it rolled pretty bad,” Anthony told the New York Post.

Anthony went up for an offensive rebound in the third quarter and landed awkwardly on a Magic player Tobias Harris, resulting in the rolled ankle. He received treatment on the bench and did not return to the game despite going to the locker room under his own power.

The Knicks and Thunder last met in April in a wild shootout game that saw the Knicks win behind Anthony’s 36 points and 12 rebounds. Durant chipped in 27 points. The win allowed Anthony to take the #1 scoring spot and eventually win the league scoring title.

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Much as I’d love to see another Melo-Durant duel, I’d rather our best player sit this one out and get healthy. He’s been playing way too many minutes as it is and trying to guard Durant on a bum ankle will do his health no favors. As we saw in last night’s Magic game, this team is hopeless without him, so risking a situation where he has to miss further time is not smart.

With that said, Melo is a baller and since he’s been here, he’s always loved these Christmas games. I give it a 70% chance that he ends up trying to play.

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