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New York Knicks vs Milwaukee Bucks – 1/4/17 – Game Recap

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New York Knicks vs Milwaukee Bucks
Game 37: January 4, 2017
Bucks 105, Knicks 104

Written by Eric Weinstein – @ericcweinsteinn

This one hurt me right in my heart. Also, my soul hurts a little bit too.

The Knicks took on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks at MSG tonight, and took a real punch to the gut, courtesy of the Greek Freak. Giannis hit a fadeaway jumper as time expired to end this one, 105-104. There are so many things I could say about this game that could be the reason why the Knicks lost their sixth (crying face) in a row, but that turnaround from Giannis really just hit like a dagger to the heart. Carmelo Anthony was superb tonight for the Knicks and led the way with 30 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. Mindaugus Kuzminskas scored a season high 15 points off the bench, and Derrick Rose also scored 15 points, but committed a costly turnover which led to the game winning bucket. Antetokounmpo left MSG with 27 points, 13 rebounds, and the tears of all the fans watching this game. Kristaps Porzingis sat out his third straight game with the Achilles injury.

Takeaways from this game

No killer instinct at all:

If you read the last recap against the Magic, (which you should, it’s good, but I’m admittedly biased) I said that Continue reading →

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Knicks vs Nets 12/2/14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee

New York hardcore basketball fans, Knicks’ fans and Nets’ fans alike marked down December 2, 2014 on their calendars before the season began. Both going into the season optimistically, unfortunately those expectations were never met. Both teams so far underachieving, needing to combine to produce double digit victories, while combining for a total of 23 losses. Not much of a bragging right for whoever wins really.

To start the game Brook Lopez shot an air ball, but quickly heated up, scoring six points after that misfortune. Lopez led the way for Brooklyn, constantly attacking the paint. Lopez scored of his 19 points of his 23 points by halftime. The Nets had their way in the paint scoring 30 points in the paint by halftime, with 20 points alone just in the first quarter. This theme continued as Brooklyn outmuscled the Knicks, scoring 48 points in the paint, and grabbing 21 offensive rebounds.

Carmelo Anthony shot a couple of air ball threes before finally getting it going late in the first quarter, scoring six straight points for New York before finally taking a rest with a little under two minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Without Anthony there was no other reliable shot creator on the team, and the Nets went on a 6-0 run, giving Brooklyn a double digit lead 27-16. This is especially true with the absence of J.R Smith, who missed the game with the “flu”.
New York clawed back into the game, holding Brooklyn to one field goal in the opening five minutes of the second quarter. The Knicks got into the bonus early in second quarter, but did not take advantage of this, going to the line only one more time before halftime. Even so, New York kept it close, always within arm’s length of tying the game, within one possession several times.

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2014/15 Knicks Roster Power Rankings – Week 6

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Another week of nothing but losses. Some of those losses were almost not losses so…yeah. And what’s with other teams stars being injured for weeks, only to come back against the Knicks and destroy them? It’s going to be real hard ranking these clowns this week.
Rank Player Comments Last weeks Rank
1 Calderon, Jose Yeah he didn’t play well against the Thunder but no one did. 7 3’s against Dallas and 10 boards against Miami give me more positive things to say about Jose than anyone else on this list. 9
2 Anthony, Carmelo Melo missed 2 games with back spasms but looked pretty good against the Heat. I bet he’d look even better if opposing defenses had to pay attention to anyone else other than Melo and Amare. 1
3 Wear, Travis Wear was the only Knicks with a positive +/- in all 3 games this week. By all means only play him 10-12 minutes a game. 3
4 Acy, Quincy Quincy isn’t this high because I think he’s good. It’s just that everyone else below him is playing way below expectations while Quincy gets a few boards and does his best to not be terrible, and for the most part he’s succeeded. 4
5 Larkin, Shane Shan is pretty much in the same boat as Quincy. He’s not doing anything particularly great but he’s not making me scream, drink, and throw things at the tv while watching him. Continue reading →

Knicks vs Heat 11/30/14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee

Both team’s superstar returned to action Sunday night from injury, Dwyane Wade with a strained left hamstring, and Carmelo Anthony from back spasms.

Both teams were inept on offense in the first quarter, Heat shot 27.3% while the Knicks shot 33.3%. However the Heat got to the line, going a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Miami who are sixth in league in stealing with 8.3 steals per game, took advantage of New York’s sloppy play early on, getting five steals alone in the first quarter. Amare Stoudemire came off the bench and his energy really kept the Knicks in the game, making three straight baskets once inserted. Stoudemire finished the game with a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. New York only trailed 21-17 after the opening quarter.

James Ennis, a rookie forward from Long Beach State went berserk, personally responsible for a 10-2 run to start the second quarter. Ennis showed off all his offensive skills, first a pull up mid-range jump shot, then a three-pointer, before finally getting free to the rim for a slam dunk. Then he would give a helping hand, setting up Josh McRoberts for a wide open three. Just like that New York saw themselves down 34-21 four minutes into the second quarter.

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Knicks vs. Heat – 2-1-14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee
With everyone counting down the hours, the minutes, on the eve of NFL Super Bowl XLVIII, the New York Super Bowl weekend included one huge basketball match-up in the metro area as well.
The Defending Champions Miami Heat came into town, showing that defense wins championships. The Heat made sure to not let Carmelo Anthony get into any offensive rhythm. Sending defensive stalwart Shane Battier to guard him, Battier made it tough for Anthony, constantly fronting him, forcing him to work very hard to even catch the ball. When Anthony was finally able to possess the ball, another Heat would swarm in Anthony’s direction to double team him, forcing him to take a bad shot, or pass the ball out. Anthony wasn’t making good decisions, turning the ball over seven times in a 106-91 defeat to the Miami Heat. Anthony finished the game with 26 points 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
Shane Battier hounded Anthony into committing three turnovers and scoring only four points in the first quarter, whom normally would be closer to double figures as the Knicks’ primary option on offense. Battier wasn’t only getting it done of the defensive end, he also got it done on the offensive end, scoring 11 points in the first quarter, knocking down three three-pointers in the process. With all the attention paid to Carmelo Anthony, J.R Smith got loose for the Knicks early, scoring 11 points in the first quarter, and finishing the game with 20 points. Smith’s early contributions kept New York in the game, but the Heat went on a 10-2 run to end the first quarter to take a 29-22 lead.
The Heat led by as much as 14 points mid-way through the second quarter, propelled by Dwayne Wade’s nine points in the period. Wade was unstoppable, scoring on tough mid-range jumpers, as well as slashing to the rim for 22 points in the game. The Knicks though did not give up, going on an 11-2 run bridging from the end of the second quarter and into the opening minutes of the third, to get within a possession 53-51.
Miami would respond immediately, going on a 15-4, fueled by the Knicks turnovers. New York committed five turnovers in the third quarter, 17 in total for the game. New York was too careless with the ball Saturday night, making poor decisions. There were way too many cross court passes attempted by the Knicks, which was easily stolen by the Heat. And it wasn’t like New York didn’t know this was coming, Miami is first in the league in forcing opponents to turn over the ball at 17.4 per game, as well as top five in team steals at 8.9 per game. Simply put the Knicks needed to take care of the basketball against the Miami Heat, and they didn’t. New York didn’t help their own cause, when they just kept fouling (some of the calls were questionable) at the end of the third quarter, fouling on five consecutive possessions to end the period. Miami shot 11 free throws in the third quarter, converting on seven of them.
A three-pointer by Tim Hardaway Jr. cut the Miami lead to five to start the fourth quarter, the rookie followed up his career high 29 points, with 17 points Saturday night. New York was able to again cut the Miami lead to five again with nine minutes left in the game, but that would be as close as the Knicks would ever get, as Norris Cole was personally responsible for an 8-2 run, scoring six points and assisting on a Chris Bosh jumper. The run gave Miami a double digit led again, 92-81 with 5:45 remaining in the game. Cole’s play was the most pivotal part of the game, and completely changed the momentum in favor of Miami, he had the best +/- of any player in the game, with +17. Lebron James closed the door shut on the Knicks, extending the led to as much as 16 points, making a few tough fade away jumpers. James finished the game with 30 points 8 rebounds 7 assists, and 6 steals.
Tonight was the type of game where New York really missed the presence of Iman Shumpert. It is a given what Lebron is going to do, but New York really needed a defensive guard to slow down Dwyane Wade. Shumpert would have been given the assignment to guard him, yes he gambles a lot, and is overly aggressive at times, picking up too many ticky tack fouls, but it is still better than having Tim Hardaway Jr. guarding Wade. Hardaway Jr. at this point in his career is just a scorer, he hardly gets any rebounds, steals, or blocks. But defense isn’t just what you see on the stat sheet, he does not cover his own man well, nor does he rotate well on defense. Shumpert presence would have definitely changed the game, but you have to weigh out the positives and negatives, because for what Hardaway Jr. lacks in defense, Shumpert lacks in offense. New York didn’t help themselves either tonight, stabbing themselves in the foot, missing nine free throws, converting on only 60.9% of attempts. The most noteworthy one was when Carmelo Anthony got fouled on a three-point attempt, and proceeded to miss three straight free throws.