Tag: video

Flagrant Elbow Earns JR Smith Suspension for Game 4 Against Celtics

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The NBA announced late last night that JR Smith will serve a one game suspension for his flagrant 2 elbow on Jason Terry during the fourth quarter of game 3 against the Celtics Friday night.

The play came when Terry attempted a hard swipe of the ball on the perimeter, resulting in Smith swinging an elbow that first landed on Terry’s chest and then face. Terry had to be restrained by teammates and officials. Smith was ejected after the play was reviewed.

The Knicks went on to win the game 90-76 and take a commanding 3-0 series lead. Smith has been averaging 16 points thus far in the playoffs and is the Knicks second leading scorer.

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This decision is just another reminder to the Knicks that as one of the premier teams in the league, they’ll be extra scrutiny on everything they do. Much like Kevin Durant got a BS fine for simply doing a throat slash, the Knicks have been victim of overreactive disciplinary actions from the NBA front office. Melo got one earlier in the season for attempting to confront Kevin Garnett after the game despite no punches or up-close confrontation happening. Hell, KG choked a Knicks players after a game in the 2011 and there wasn’t a peep from the NBA about a suspension.

In a way, I’m glad JR learned how important he is to the team and not to risk his contributions on silly retaliatory shots. Nonetheless, I still want the sweep today so someone else needs to step up and bury the boys in the green. I’m looking at you, Chris Copeland.

[youtube http://youtu.be/1dbh-xgZxjI]

Baking Beans in Boston – Knicks Smash Celtics, Take 3-0 Series Lead

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It was a beautiful game last night for Knicks fans as our squad broke the spirit of the Celtics with a commanding 90-76 victory. The narrative coming into the contest was how the Knicks would deal with the emotional energy of a Boston team looking to inspire their city after the tragic Boston Marathon bombing. Knicks fans will recall we had our own emotional lift to start the season when we blew out the Heat in the season opener on the heels of Hurricane Sandy. Unfortunately for Boston, they were facing a team that had them beat in talent and focus.

 

TAKEN OUT EARLY, BLAME PRIGIONI: The Boston fans wanted something to cheer for, but the Knicks would have none of it. Pablo Prigioni set the tone with two quick treys. Neither side shot well particularly well in the opening quarter (each squad below 40%). However, you never got the feeling this game would be competitive. Raymond Felton was penetrating at will and kicking out for open shots, one of which being a JR Smith triple. The Celtics got open looks but were shrinking away from meeting the challenge by blowing layups. And even with Melo struggling with his shot going 2-7, the Knicks still lead 23-18 going into the second.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_4cY1cHpcw&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

 

OFF TO THE RACES: You know the most impressive thing about the 2nd quarter? For me, it was the fact the Knicks built the lead with Steve Novak in the lineup. Seriously, Novak had been woeful on offense and defense during this series. Last night, he moved well and wasn’t a liability. The Knicks defense as a whole completely stifled the Celtics guards — passing lanes were clogged up and their offense completely imploded. A JR Smith three-pointer brought the lead to double digits (34-23), and there it remained for the rest of the game.

Melo (26 points), dubbed the “ball hog” by the Celtics media pundits, promptly re-entered the game and drained three straight long jumpers and an alley-oop courtesy of Jason Kidd to push the lead to 47-31 at halftime.

Where was Paul Pierce, you ask? The Celtics main scorer was held to just 4 points on 2-10 shooting. In addition, he was forced into 3 turnovers, mostly courtesy of some stifling defense from Iman Shumpert, who ended up with 3 steals and 8 rebounds for the game.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH3UUFSSapc&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

 

MORE DOMINATION: Outside of a quick 7-0 Celtics run to the start the third, the Knicks were never seriously challenged in the second half. Without Rajon Rondo, the Celtics couldn’t protect the ball (17 turnovers). Melo continued nailing jumpers, and Felton blew past his defenders throughout the game to the tune of 15 points and 10 assists. The Knicks held a 68-52 lead after the third, and the fourth was decided early on when Novak hit his first three of the series to push the lead to 73-54. After that, the game was basically extended garbage time for 7-8 minutes.

 

THE ONE BLEMISH: JR Smith had a solid game (15 points, 4 rebounds), but committed a costly reckless moment when he responded to a hard swipe from Jason Terry by elbowing him in the face. Terry sold it a bit, but it was enough to get JR tossed early in the fourth. To his credit, Smith walked away immediately, got a stern talking to from Coach Woodson, and headed right to the back. It looks like a suspension isn’t coming, so the Knicks dodged a bullet.

It JR’s defense though , Jason Terry has a face that’s begging for a good elbow.

[youtube http://youtu.be/or8qsOh0czM]

CHANDLER WORKING HIS WAY BACK: Tyson Chandler’s recent bulging disc injury at has made his contributions this post-season very sporadic. Last night’s game was promising in Chandler showing some good rolls to the basket for dunks like the Tyson we all know. His numbers don’t jump out at you (6 points, 8 rebounds), but watch out when he truly gets back to form.

I have a good feeling Sunday will be the last we see of the Celtics this season.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wizw8LWAwmw&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

Another 2nd Half Shutdown: Knicks Rally Behind Defense, Beat Celtics In Game 2

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23! No, I’m not talking about the iconic number of one of game’s greatest players. 23 indicates the new record for offensive futility that the Boston Celtics set last night in the second half while under pressure from the Knicks defense. The Celtics could only put up 23 points (11 and 12 in the third and fourth quarters, respectively) when faced with the likes of Kenyon Martin in the lane, resulting in a decisive 87-71 Knicks victory.

We’re still waiting on that complete 48-minute game when it comes to defense, but the Knicks put the clamps down when it mattered and reminded the Celtics this isn’t the team they swept back in 2011.

 

TRIGGER-HAPPY REFS IN 1ST QUARTER: For whatever reason, the referees decided to call the first quarter like they were afraid a fight was going to break out. BS fouls were being called on both teams, resulting in Iman Shumpert, Kevin Garnett and Tyson Chandler having to take quick seats. Offensively, the Knicks didn’t truly get going until newly crowned Sixth Man of the Year JR Smith came in. Swish went 4-4 for nine points in just 8 minutes with the last two being his patented stepback outside jumper and a breathtaking buzzer-beating three-pointer from 36 feet to give New York a 26-20 lead.

SLEEPWALKING THROUGH THE SECOND: The Knicks had a putrid second quarter all-around. Steve Novak and Chris Copeland continued their invisible play. Jason Terry found his stroke from downtown (3-3) that helped spark a 11-0 Boston run to take a 31-27 lead. At one point, Boston lead by as much as 10 as the Knicks offense degraded into predictable Melo isos. The Knicks couldn’t protect the ball either as the Celtics got 16 points off turnovers and outscored the Knicks 28-16 to hold a 48-42 halftime lead.

The only positive from this quarter was Garnett getting hit with his third foul.

 

BACK TO REALITY: The Celtics shot 57% over the first half and we know that wasn’t going to continue. Iman Shumpert hit back to back treys that erased the Celtics lead, and from there it was all Knicks. Melo rebounded from a slow first half (3/11 shooting) and lit up Boston for 13 points in the third and 34 points overall. Whenever the Celtics tried to make a run in the fourth, a few quick Melo jumpers kept them from getting closer than nine.

With Melo and Smith guaranteed to get theirs every night, the Knicks always have a need for a third guy to step up on offense. Last night it was Raymond Felton (16 points, 7 rebounds), who pushed the pace and ran the Celtics ragged with his drives into the lane.

The interior defense from Tyson Chandler, who had a huge block on Avery Bradley, and Kenyon Martin, who had four big blocks in the second half, kept the Celtics a jump-shooting team. K-Mart in particular was huge with 11 rebounds (3 offensive) and keeping Garnett (4-9, 12 points) working hard to get post position. His defense was also the main catalyst for Jeff Green not being able to get anything going to the basket.

The Knicks will need to be even better on Friday when they head into Boston for what will no doubt be a highly emotional game. Let’s pay back that 2011 series with a sweep of our own.

Sixth Man of the Year: JR Smith’s Top 10 Plays of the 2012-2013 Season

JRSmith_SixthManAward

It was no surprise to Knicks fans that JR Smith was crowned the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award for his breakout 2012-2013 season. Smith came into the year disappointed that he didn’t land a starter’s spot, but then he embraced the role and became the team’s most essential offensive threat behind Carmelo Anthony. And it wasn’t just his career-high 18 points per game — JR was one of only six players (Lebron, Kobe, Durant, Rudy Gay and Russell Westbrook) this year to average at least 17 points, 5 rebounds and 1.3 steals.

We’re going to see a lot more JR highlights before the playoffs end, but for now feast on the below JR Top 10 courtesy of NBA.com. Knicks management better pay this man his worth in the offseason.

JR TALKS SIXTH MAN AWARD

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-F6f7h0fiY&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

JR SMITH TOP 10 OF 2012-2013 SEASON

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5s8aHosHJE&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

Knicks Clinch Atlantic Division With Wizards Win

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It’s been a LONG time coming, as the great Sam Cooke sang decades ago. After nearly 14 years, the Knicks have won the Atlantic division and did so in grand fashion by burning the Washington Wizards for 20 three-pointers (!!!) in a 120-99 rout last night at Madison Square Garden.

It was a grand celebration for most of the night except for a freak injury that may have a large effect on our playoff run.

 

KENYON MARTIN SPRAINS LEFT ANKLE: K-Mart was having a solid game keeping the Wizards bigs under wraps. In the third, he came down from a routine rebound and ended up badly spraining his left ankle. The crowd gasped in fear as most of us thought he had further damaged his knee, which was sore and had made his status questionable for this game.

Although Mike Woodson didn’t rule out him playing against the Bulls on Thursday, the Knicks need to be extra cautious and let him rest. I love this streak and want to extend it as much as any fan, but not at the expense of a deep playoff run.

 

MELO REMAINS MR. APRIL: Carmelo Anthony continues his amazing month and equaled his season-high for most points in a quarter by dropping 21 in the third (8-11 from the field). The Wizards are a solid defensive team but had no answers for Melo anywhere on the court. Whether it was deep jumpers, drives to baskets or post-ups, Melo had his way.

And unlike his other games, it wasn’t hocket assists but direct passes out of double-teams to our open guards that made Melo flirt with a triple double (36 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists).

 

COPELAND-SANITY: Melo told Copeland to remain aggressive and boy did he ever, going for 17 pointsand making the most of the mismatches that had seven-footers trying to guard him. Defensively, Cope had a tough time trying to bang inside with guys like Nene and Okafor, but his five fouls paled in comparison to the floor spacing he gave with his three-point shooting and drives to the rim. Excellent game.

 

GUARD PLAY: John Wall went off for 33 points, but he had to work hard for them. The Knicks guards made sure everyone else on the perimeter couldn’t get going with the exception of Cartier Martin (16 points) in garbage time. Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd pulled off a beautiful inbounds trap in the backcourt on John Wall which lead to a turnover and layup, capping a 7-0 run to end the first half with a 58-43 lead.

Iman Shumpert was one of the main reasons this game stopped being competitive in the third. After going 0-9 over the last two games, Shump had hit several treys and pullup jumpers, notching 8 points in the quarter and 18 for the game.

 

20 THREES-POINTERS: When the Knicks shooting is hot, this squad is very hard to beat. And when you nail 20 threes, it’s an impossible barrage to overcome. What stands out regarding this performance is it was predicated on constant ball movement (to the tune of 20 assists).

With the Atlantic now locked up, it’s time for the Knicks to close out a few more games to secure the #2 seed and home-court advatnage through the first two rounds of the playoffs.

[youtube http://youtu.be/zr2k_LUo16U]

Knicks Take 12th Straight Win in Wild Shootout With the Thunder

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What a game! I was confident in the Knicks’ chances considering they battled the Thunder down to the final shot at Madison Square Garden last month without Melo. The big concern was how our slower and older guards would handle the merciless penetration of Russell Westbrook and OKC’s strong frontline with Kenyon Martin sitting out his second game. The response came from our bench, who fought tooth and nail to set the table for the Knicks to outgun the Thunder in the final minute to pick up arguably their best road win of the season.

OKC LIVES AT THE FREE THROW LINE, THE KNICKS BEHIND THE ARC: The first quarter was very annoying to watch as the refs called a bunch of ticky-tack fouls on what seemed like every Knicks player. Any contact on Durant, no matter how light, resulted in a  foul call. Just four minutes in, Iman Shumpert and Pablo Prigioni had two fouls apiece. Melo got his second a few minutes later, helping the Thunder get out to a 21-14 lead.

Like the first game, the Knicks were not intimidated and roared back behind two three-pointers from Jason Kidd. The Knicks would end up going 6/7 in the first quarter and were only down 31-30 despite the Thunder shooting over 60% from the field.

Copeland

COPES SHOWS AND PROVES: The knock on Chris Copeland is that while he can score, it’s offset by the fact he’s a huge defensive liability. That wasn’t the case today. Copeland’s first half offense was crucial in keeping the Knicks in it with Melo sitting. He had 13 points that came from behind the arc and also in the paint. On defense, he swatted away a Westbrook drive and had active hands in causing deflections. And with ball movement, he kept the forced shots to a minimum, giving a sweet assist to Steve Novak for an open trey (who was 2-4 from downtown in the first half).

The bench output was the main reason the Knicks were able to go up by as much as 12 in the first half before settling for a 65-56 halftime lead.

Westbrook_Knicks

SURVIVING THE RUNS: As expected, the Thunder made strong pushes in the third and fourth quarters. Each time, the Knicks had an answer. When the Thunder got to within a point (84-83) with 2:52 left in the third, Melo drained a three. When the Thunder took a brief fourth quarter lead, guys like Raymond Felton brought the momentum back.

Speaking of Ray, that man knows no fear in crunch time. Like he did in the fourth quarters against the Hawks and Bucks, he continued going right into the teeth of the defense. His aggressiveness resulted in 16 points and 8 assists.

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MELO WINS HIS DUEL: It’s been a minute since Durant and Melo went at each other and it didn’t disappoint. While Westbrook was the primary scorer this afternoon (37 points), Durant wasn’t too shabby either with his 27 points. However, Melo dropped 36 and was most impressive with his attack on the offensive glass, where he had a season-high in nine (12 rebounds total). It was a welcome sight to see Melo keep his cool and get the putbacks despite being fouled repeatedly. He had two key tip-ins (one off his own miss and another off a missed JR free throw) late that gave NY a little breathing room and set up the coup de grace…

JR CLOSES THE SHOW: JR Smith didn’t shoot well today. He missed a few open threes early in the fourth that could have ended some of the late drama. But like he’s done all throughout this winning streak, JR got it done when the game was on the line. With the Knicks clinging to a 115-113 lead, Smith hit a long jumper with the shot clock expiring to make it 117-113. And on the next possession, Smith bailed us out with a dagger three to ice it. Applaud this man.

THE BENCH: The Knicks bench outscored the Thunder’s 55-30. JR was JR with his 22 points, but Kidd’s 14 and Copeland’s 13 were huge contributions. A total team win.

THE CRITICS ARE QUIET: No one gave us any slack when we rolled out our banged up lineups, but we were quick to hear about how our recent Heat win didn’t mean anything with Wade and James sitting. Well, the Thunder were at full strength and out for blood. They were turned back on their home floor. Speaking of emphatic road wins, the Knicks have them in abundance this year against the Spurs, Heat (2X),Celtics and now Thunder.

The Knicks have their first 50 win season in 13 years and are just one win away from securing their first Atlantic division crown since 1994. Taking out the Thunder was their 12th straight win. And this is all without having a fully healthy roster the entire year.

You’re still not a believer? It doesn’t matter — the Knicks know they are for real.

[youtube http://youtu.be/koA1mxyxy-4]

Brandon Jennings, Kindly STFU – Knicks Ride 3rd Quarter Blitz & Melo’s 41, Down Bucks 101-83

Melo_3Taunt

40 years ago, the New York Knicks were the NBA champions. The names of those players still ring out heavy among Knick fans: Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Dick Barnett, Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Phil Jackson, Willis Reed, Hawthrone Wingo, Bill Bradley and the late Dave DeBusschere. Tonight, most of that team made it out to the Garden to be honored by a very appreciative Madison Square Garden crowd. The only thing needed to cap a beautiful evening was the Knicks extending their winning streak to 11. There were some bumps in the road, or better yet, bumps over the entire first half, but the current Knicks delivered on their end and then some…

UGLY FIRST HALF: The Knicks played their worst basketball of this winning streak in the first 24 minutes against the Bucks. The Knicks could literally not hit anything, including wide open shots. Most of their three point attempts were uncontested and they still went an atrocious 1-12. Meanwhile, the Bucks went 7-14, anchored by a hot second quarter from J.J. Redick, who sunk four in the quarter to help propel him to 13 points.

With the shots not going down, the offense degraded to predictable post isolations for Melo. Unfortunately, Melo had problems holding onto the ball (5 turnovers) and finishing over Bucks’s big frontcourt, lead by the league’s top shot-blocker in Larry Sanders.

Having shot 34% from the field and down 36-45 at halftime, the only bright spot for the Knicks was that there was no way they could play that horribly over the next 24 minutes.

BRANDON JENNINGS GETS HIS DUE KARMA: The Knicks came out strong in the third and quickly got the deficit to two before making some blunders on Brandon Jennings, who made a four-point swing by turning a missed free throw into a foul and three-point play. Jennings would hit a three later to push the Bucks lead to nine. As usual for him, Jennings was feeling himself way before the game was decided, and shot a smug glare at the Garden faithful.

Wrong move, especially on this night.

The Knicks promptly broke the game open on an absurd 25-2 run, which saw them at one point score 16 straight points. Remember those three-pointers that wouldn’t go down in the first half? JR Smith hit three of them in quarter. Felton added one for three of his nine points in the quarter. Melo had two three-points plays, treys and assorted jumpers for a blistering 18 points in 12 minutes.

What was the icing on the cake to this 42-21 third quarter? On a late Jennings drive, he was smacked right in the face by Tyson Chandler and laid out to no call. While he languished on the floor holding his face, his defensive assignment in Raymond Felton drained a three-pointer. When Jennings tried to hold for the final shot, Felton was all over him and made sure he was denied the ball (causing Brandon to have a short tantrum much to the delight of the crowd).

And for the final cap to the Knicks’s highest scoring quarter of the season, Jason Kidd heaved a three from the opposite three-point line behind halfcourt. The result was a banked-in shot and a 78-66 lead going into the fourth.

[youtube http://youtu.be/8zLLVK-0yKQ]

MELO EQUALS HIS IDOL: Although the Bucks hung around for most of the fourth and got as close at six, you never got the feeling the Knicks were in trouble with Melo on the floor. The Bucks got three-point happy, and Melo coolly closed the game out on them with back to back long jumpers to put the Knicks up 91-81. From there, Melo was sitting on 38 points and the crowd gave him a standing ovation and “MVP!” chants, hoping he could hit 40 again.

He did it easily on a pull-up three-pointer to push the lead at 96-81.

With his 41 points tonight, Melo equals his idol Bernard King as the only Knick to score 40 points in three straight games. Not only is this Melo eighth 40-plus game this season (the most in the NBA), he’s the first player in 28 years to have 3 straight 40 point games while shooting over 60% from the field.

And finally, let’s not forget another great stat for Melo — 14 rebounds.

CHANDLER SLOWLY COMING BACK: Tyson is far from his usual self yet, but he did well on the rebounding front (10) and like the rest of the team woke up on offense in the second half. With Kenyon Martin resting, it was important Chandler do well on the boards and he stepped up to the challenge.

JR SWISH: This man was key in that 3rd quarter barrage as he couldn’t miss from three. He turned into the old chucking JR for a bit in the fourth, but I couldn’t blame him with how he had been shooting. And more importantly, he kept his head on defense. Off the bench JR gave us 30 points (11/22 shooting) and 10 rebounds.

THE LEGENDS GET A PROPER HOMECOMING:  With the 1973 championship team in the house, the Garden wanted a fun win and that’s exactly what they got. I’m sure they imparted some team wisdom to the current Knicks that they’ll hopefully take with them into the playoffs.

Now at 11 straight wins, the streak faces its biggest danger on Sunday when the Knicks meet the Thunder.

[youtube http://youtu.be/icMMjzbYN1o]

10 and Counting — Melo and JR Turn Atlanta Into MSG South, Knicks Defeat Hawks 95-82

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On the second night of a road back to back, the Knicks had every reason to pack this one in. What we received was another stellar performance from Carmelo Anthony. And even more importantly, our superstar got to lay back in the fourth quarter while others stepped up to put the Atlanta Hawks out of their misery. The Knicks win streak has now hit double digits and with this play, it might not be stopping anytime soon.

 

MELO CARRIES THE LOAD THROUGH THREE:  After a quiet 1-4 shooting start, Melo erupted for 13 points in the first quarter and 24 points by halftime. Unlike last night’s 50 point game, which was exclusively on perimeter jumpers, Melo went inside out on Josh Smith, who was completely hapless on defense. When the Hawks doubled, Melo didn’t force it and kicked out to the open man. Unfortunately, most of the open looks from Jason Kidd, JR Smith and Raymond Felton weren’t being converted on, which allowed the Hawks to hang around.

Atlanta took a brief lead in the third behind Kyle Korver’s hot shooting (25 points, six three-pointers), but the Knicks never allowed Atlanta to get more than a point or two in front.

While it was awesome watching Melo torch Smith, you began wondering if he would have any gas left for the fourth, as he had to 36 of the Knicks’ 68 points headed into the final stanza.

 

FELTON AND JR COME ALIVE: Wondering how the Knicks walked out of Atlanta with a double-digit lead with Melo only scoring four points in the fourth? That falls on Felton and Smith, who combined for an astounding 20 points on 9/12 shooting. Both had been struggling with their shots, but everything came together when it mattered. Felton attacked the lane fearlessly for repeated layups due to the Hawks defense focusing too closely on Melo. And JR, who couldn’t finish at the rim for nothing in the previous three quarters, was now shaking Hawks players at will for short jumpers and a dagger three late that put New York up 87-76. The life had been sucked out of the Hawks and JR added some more dirt to their grave by blowing past Josh Smith for a two-handed slam. Smith finished with 19 points while Felton contributed 14.

 

THE ROUGH SPOTS:  The second and third quarter were frustrating to watch as the Knicks were giving the Hawks unnecessary life. The main culprit that stood out was Iman Shumpert. He made the repeated blunder of sagging off Kyle Korver and getting burned for three-pointers. This was why Coach Woodson elected to go with Jason Kidd to close out the fourth. It ended up being a wise decision, as Kidd was huge in shutting down Korver and keeping the ball moving to the tune of 7 assists (the best being a alley oop slam to Melo in the fourth). Kidd also protected the boards with 5 rebounds.

 

WOUNDED WARRIOR: Tyson Chandler is jsut two games into his return froma  bulging disc in his neck. Last game he complained of stiffness, and tonight he was seen holding his left clavicle area after a rebound in the first half. Although he didn’t have much in the way of points (2) or rebounds (4), he did a good job of keeping Al Horford nullified (9 points, 7 rebounds).

 

90 POINTS IN 24 HOURS: Let’s get back to Melo. The man’s stat line in the last 24 hours is 35/53 (8/12 from downtown) for 66% shooting, Nearly everything was within the flow of the offense and he made the right passes when needed. When you hear people say Melo is the best scorer in the NBA, these are the games that support that opinion. And I’ll go on record as predicting he’ll have a monster April and take his first scoring title.

 

MSG SOUTH: The Knicks are 6-1 over their last seven meetings with the Hawks. Once again, the Hawks had their arena turned into MSG South. It was downright embarrassing how loud the Knickstape faithful chanted “MVP!” for Melo in the fourth as he capped the evening with 40 points. If it wasn’t for the court colors, you’d swear they were playing in at the original Madison Square Garden.

 

Does the streak hit 11 games? We’ll find out on Friday when the Knicks head back home to face the Bucks.

[youtube http://youtu.be/2dJPoI3aHQk]

50 to the Head — Melo Lights Up Short-Handed Heat, Knicks’ Streak Hits Nine

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So what Dwyane Wade and LeBron James weren’t playing tonight? The Knicks were missing their own superstars in Kurt Thomas and Rasheed Wallace! In all seriousness, I had some mixed feelings coming into tonight’s final regular season meeting between the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat. On one hand, I wanted our winning streak to be tested against a fully healthy version of the defending champs. On the other hand, an “easy win” on paper was needed, as the Knicks and Pacers are literally changing places between #2 and #3 in the East every game. In the end, the Knicks got a win they absolutely had to have, and move on step closer to winning their first Atlantic division title since 1994.

AN INEXCUSABLE FIRST HALF: Things started off good enough in the first quarter with a red-hot Carmelo Anthony going on an 8-0 run all by himself, But as the game settled in, the small Knicks backcourt of Pablo Prigioni and Raymond Felton had problems with Chris Anderson’s rolls to the rim and getting over screens. After leading 27-25 after one, the Knicks forgot about defense and got torched by Mike Miller of all people for 13 points (18 at the half). Look here… there is no excuse for Miller to be lighting anyone up in 2013. The defensive switches were bad for the Knicks as were the useless double teams. The NY guards in particular were being beat at will by Norris Cole and Ray Allen into the paint. Tyson Chandler was still out of sync so his post presence wasn’t much of a factor with the Heat holding a 28-6 scoring edge in the paint and a 58-50 lead at halftime.

The offense wasn’t much better for the Knicks. JR Smith was having a very difficult time getting into the paint, but to his credit he stuck with his newfound game and had 9 points to compliment Melo’s 27.

THE ROAD BACK: It was a still a one-man show on offense for the Knicks with Melo having 42 points by the end of the third quarter. The main change was the defense. Miller was held scoreless as the closeouts and rotations were vastly improved. The Knicks forced Cole to make tough decisions, leading to rushed and contested shots. The Knicks had some sloppy turnovers late that prevented them from getting any additional breathing room. However, a Melo drive and kick out for a Steve Novak trey at the buzzer gave the Knicks a slim 78-76 lead going into the fourth.

GRINDED AND SPIT OUT: Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said the fourth quarter would be a grind out 12 minutes and it was in the early going. Kenyon Martin, who had been providing his usual good defense all game, smashed home a two-handed slam over Chris Anderson. Raymond Felton came alive in getting into the lane and also working a long jumper to extend the NY lead to 84-78. But the Heat battled back behind Chris Bosh’s ability to draw fouls inside to tie it at 86 with 7:49 remaining.

The biggest break for the Knicks came with them clinging to an 90-88 lead and Bosh throwing a nice one-handed pass to an open Shane Battier. The three-pointer barely missed, and the Knicks immediately called time to regroup. From that point on, with 5-6 minutes left, the Heat would not score another field goal.

Melo closed the show in efficient and deadly fashion, hitting quick, long jumpers and a three-pointer to push the Knicks ahead 95-88. Bosh’s attempt at a layup resulted in a loud, nasty block from Tyson Chandler. The scoring dagger would be JR Smith’s trey that made it 99-88 with under 2 minutes to play.

On the Knicks’ last possession, JR informed Melo that he was one field goal off from 50, promptly Melo to casually swish another long jumper to equal his career-high.

MELO STARTS OFF APRIL CORRECT: Last April it was Melo who willed us into the playoffs with off the charts play. If his play from tonight is any indication, we may get another amazing month. Melo’s 50 points came on 18/26 shooting (7/10 from downtown). Who’s bright idea on the Heat’s coaching staff was it to give Udonis Haslem extended minutes guarding Melo?

ANOTHER SEASON SERIES GOES TO THE KNICKSTAPE: A few days ago the Knicks took the season series from Boston 3-1. Tonight, Miami got the same treatment, with their lone win being achieved by coming back from a 16-point deficit. The playoffs are an entirely different animal, but the Knicks will enter it with confidence against the best team in the league should they meet in the conference finals.

Next up tomorrow night are the Hawks down in Atlanta. Let’s see if Melo’s hot shooting carries over.

Happy Easter, Boston! Knicks Dominate Celtics 108-89, Take Season Series

Felton1

2004. That is the last time the Knicks won a season series against the Boston Celtics. Here we are nine years later with the Knicks breaking that drought emphatically with three straight wins (two in Boston) over their Atlantic division rivals to win the season series 3-1 and extend their winning streak to eight. Are the Knicks about to peak heading into April and the playoffs? There’s many reasons from this game to think so.

BLOWN OPEN IN THE SECOND: The Knicks had a 28-23 lead after one solely based on their hot shooting (52% from the field), punctuated by 4 three-pointers. The Celtics were right there with them courtesy of Jeff Green (27 points), who attacked the rim like JR Smith has been doing lately. But when the second quarter came around, the Knicks ran them out the building.

Chris Copeland provided some key offense with Melo on the bench by hitting his first two three-pointers. Steve Novak added a few treys and Jason Kidd added a shot-clock bailout one that extended the lead to 60-44. The three-point shooting was the main factor in the huge lead, as the Knicks hit 11 of them at the half. The ball movement was on point (15 assists for the team), and the scoring was evenly distributed.

You’ll recall the Knicks ran away with the last Celtics game in the second and capped their excellent play with a deep JR trey at the buzzer. Well, Raymond Felton did one better with a beyond half-court floater that banked in to make the lead 65-48. When shots like that are going down, you know you’re in trouble.

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NO THIRD QUARTER MELTDOWN: Over the first 4-5 minutes of the third, the Celtics were the team with momentum. They were getting to the line and hitting threes, which got them as close as 11 on a few occasions. However, the Knicks responded with timely buckets each time, the biggest being a Felton 3-point play that gave Avery Bradley, the Celtics’ best perimeter defender, his fifth foul. NY finished the quarter strong and Boston faced a 86-69 hole headed into the fourth.

BOSTON SUCKS!: These type of Madison Square Garden chants have come back to haunt us in previous games, but not tonight. The chants started at the beginning of the fourth and the Celtics never could provide any reason to shut the Knicks fans up. Paul Pierce had a good night (24 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists), but sat the entire fourth as coach Doc Rivers knew it was a lost cause.

JR COOLS OFF: JR Smith’s 30 point game, 50% shooting streak ended tonight on a very good note. I say that because we all wondered if JR would go back to his chucking ways when his shots weren’t going down. He was 4/12 from the field, but made sure to get to the line (7/10) and swallow up rebounds (12) on the small ball-minded Celtics. Tonight he faced one of the best defenses in the league and didn’t mentally have a setback, the clearest sign thus far that the “New JR Smith” is here to stay.

PABLO PRIGIONI REMAINS UNDEFEATED: Since Prigioni entered the starting lineup, the Knicks have been on this season-high eight-game win streak. It shouldn’t be surprising as Prigioni expertise in ball movement and steals/deflections have made sure the offense remains diverse with everyone being a scoring threat (except himself, of course). Pablo will get his biggest test on Tuesday against the Heat.

MELO’s 27 MINUTES: Carmelo had under 20 shots tonight (9/19) which is always a plus for the ball movement. The reason he ended up with 24 points instead of 32 is his struggles converting at the rim. A lot of them were point-blank shots that were just rimming out. But like JR, he contributed in other areas, namely in nabbing 10 rebounds. His defense was lazy at times (being late on switches and not contesting Green’s drives to the rim), but these lapses weren’t a huge detriment.

KNICKS SURVIVE THEIR TOUGHEST MONTH OF THE SEASON: How difficult was the month of March? We lost Tyson Chandler, Kurt Thomas and Amar’e Stoudemire to injuries, leaving just two bigs on the team. Melo missed several games with a bum knee and appeared in dire straits at times. Our West Coast trip proved to be a disaster going 1-4, and the Brooklyn Nets at one point were one game out of the top of the Atlantic Division. This winning streak helped the Knicks finish the month 12-6, stay atop the Atlantic by 4.5 games, and remain poised to have a healthy and confident team headed into the playoffs.

We’ve vanquished Boston. Now it’s time to make a statement to Miami and win that season series on Tuesday.

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