New York Knicks vs. Orlando Magic
Game 34: January 2, 2017
Magic 115, Knicks 103

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

This game was what I like to call, “bowling shoe ugly.”

So after dropping four games in a row, The Knicks hosted the Orlando Magic on Monday night in a game that most thought would be a nice way for them to get back to their winning ways and snap out of this funk. Even without Kristaps Porzingis, the Magic should have been an easy win, right? Wrong. In a miserable game, the Knicks lost to the Magic, 115-103. Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 19 points, and Derrick Rose went for 18 points and 4 assists. Jodie Meeks, AKA Ray Allen, apparently, paced Orlando with 26 points on 7-9 shooting, including 6-7 from downtown. Serge Ibaka and Aaron Gordon each put up 22 points for the Magic.

Takeaways from this game:

All around bad:

Not much to takeaway from this game, as the Knicks were just plain bad on pretty much all aspects of this one. Their defense on the three point line was basically non-existent against a team that doesn’t shoot a high percentage from anywhere, and guys were just camping out in the paint for offensive rebounds and easy putbacks. Players like Elfrid Payton and Nikola Vucevic, who are in the doghouse down in Orlando, tore the Knicks apart coming off the bench. Both these guys had double-doubles, and the Knicks had no answer for them defensively.

Orlando shot 49% from the floor, and 48% from behind the three point line. You make it hard for yourself if you allow a team to shoot like that, not to mention the 35 assists they handed out.

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