^{New York Knicks vs. New Orleans Pelicans
Game 39: January 9, 2017
Pelicans 110, Knicks 96}

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

^{Where do I start with this one?}

^{After getting their butt’s handed to them in Indiana, the Knicks showed the same type of effort against the Pelicans tonight at the Garden, dropping this one 110-96. The score shouldn’t have even been that close at the end of regulation, since New York went down by as much as 30 points during this game. The biggest story in this one was that nobody had any idea where the starting point guard was for the entire game. Derrick Rose was literally missing. After the game, it was found out that he flew home to Chicago, only without getting permission from team officials. I, for one, hope that everything is okay with Rose and there aren’t any real issues going on. His replacement in the starting lineup, Brandon Jennings, led the Knicks with 20 points to go with his 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Carmelo Anthony scored 18 points, and also came away with his league leading 3rd} _{ejection of the year. Kyle O’Quinn was also ejected, and also brought nothing to my Draft Kings lineup. Anthony Davis was his usual monster self, finishing this game with 40 points and 18 rebounds.}

_{Takeaways from this game}

_{I refuse to repeat myself:}

_{Do we have enough evidence yet? This team, as currently constructed, does not have a chance to compete in the Eastern Conference. It’s a bad mix of guys on the court, as their games don’t really do anything to compliment each other. To start the year, the guys were moving the ball and at least competing a little bit on defense. That hasn’t been the case of the past 2-3 weeks, as the Knicks just show they don’t give a crap about what happens on the defensive side of the ball. The Knicks have fallen from the 3}^rd _{spot in the East, to 10}^th _{in just a matter of weeks, and it’s sad to watch, which leads me to…}

_{Blow it up:}

_{Trade Rose, see what you can get for O’Quinn, and try to start from there. Like I said, this tem isn’t really going anywhere, so why strive to get swept by Cleveland in the first round? Enter the lottery, and maybe the ping-pong balls will fall in the right direction for once for the New York Knicks. There is no shame in admitting that this isn’t the year for this team, and it might be worse to enter Sacramento Kings territory and think that the team actually has a chance to compete. We see it game in and game out, this team has some good pieces, but not enough to get past teams like Cleveland, Toronto, and Boston. Kristaps Porzingis is the future, right? Why not do what you can to get some young players to build around with him? It just makes sense, this team isn’t winning any type of postseason series as currently constructed. Sorry Carmelo, that’s just how it is.}

_{Next game is Wednesday against the 76ers, who have won 3 of their last 4 games. If the Knicks don’t defeat Philly next game, I’ll have officially started the countdown until baseball season. The optimism I had a few weeks ago is starting to fade, but let’s go Knicks? 17-21.}