New York Knicks vs Dallas Mavericks
Game 10: November 14, 2016
Knicks 93, Dallas 77

Written by Eric Weinstein – @ericcweinsteinn
flagrant2blog.blogspot.com/ 

See what happens when you play defense?

The Dallas Mavericks came to MSG to take on the Knickerbockers tonight, and the Knicks took it to them. New York defeated Dallas 93-77 backed by Carmelo Anthony’s 24 point, 7 rebound effort, as well as Kristaps Porzingis’ 24 points and 11 rebounds. Dallas was without Dirk Nowitzki and Deron Williams tonight, and Harrison Barnes paced them with 20 points.

Takeaways from this game:

An Epic Holiday:

For those that understood my Angels and Airwaves reference there, well done. The Holiday that I’m referring to is Justin Holiday, who had his best game as a Knick tonight. Holiday finished the game with 16 points, and he sparked the team with his exceptional on the ball defense. Most notably, he began the second half with the starting lineup, and we didn’t see the 72 million dollar man, Joakim Noah, for the rest of the game, which is a completely different problem.

Holiday is proving to be more than just a throw-in from the Derrick Rose trade with his active play.

Defense!

I guess the Knicks read my last recap when I blasted the team defense. The Knicks held the Mavs to just 77 points tonight, which is far and away the lowest amount they’ve given up this season. I know Dallas was missing some key players, I mean, one of the greatest players of all time was in street clothes on their bench, but to hold an NBA team under 80 points shows an excellent effort. It finally looked like the Knicks cared about playing hard on defense, which was nice to see that as a priority. Courtney Lee and Justin Holiday especially played hard and dug in on the defensive side of the ball.

KP and Melo:

When your two best players both score 20 plus, you’re in good shape. Melo, who couldn’t buy a bucket in the first half, got into a nice groove in the second half, as he scored 20 of his 24 after halftime. Porzingis was scoring a number of ways, and his crossover into a pullup jumper in the first half got me out of my seat. The dude is 7’3, and everything he does is so smooth. Love it when these two click.

Other Notes:

The Knicks have a lot of winnable games coming up this week. They play Detroit at home on Wednesday, and then they play Washington the night after. If the Knicks defend like they did tonight, and the ball moves as freely as it did in the second half, the Knicks should win both of those games. Look for Justin Holiday to be the first guard off the bench after tonight’s performance.

By the way, Maurice N’Dour should never shoot a three ever again, no matter the situation. My God that was ugly.