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Knicks @ Rockets 11/24/14 – Game Recap

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 Written by William Lee

Carmelo Anthony had to call a timeout to get himself out of the game with 1:45 remaining in the first half. It would later be announced that Anthony was dealing with back spasms. Up until that point Anthony was having himself a great game, in fact, it was his 14th point of the first half, where it looked like he was experiencing discomfort after making a jump shot with 2:05 remaining in the second quarter. Anthony tried to stay in the game…but could not bear the pain, raising his hand to the referee indicating that he needed to leave the game.

When Anthony exited the game, the Knicks were trailing 49-38, and it looked like it would to be all doom and gloom, but the Knicks would go on 7-0 run to end the first half in the final 51 seconds to cut the deficit to 51-46 entering halftime.

New York tied the game up at 69 a piece after three quarters, winning the period 23-18, largely due to Houston’s own sloppiness with the basketball. The Rockets turned the ball over seven times in the quarter, this helped ignite the Knicks offense, and gave them more opportunities to work with.

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Knicks @ Magic 11/12/2014 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee

Two 2-6 teams early in the season, played with urgency to start Wednesday night. Both teams played with great energy and it was a high paced game, going back and forth throughout the first half. The game was tied 25 times, and changed leads 11 times within the first half.

Orlando held a 56-50 lead at halftime, largely due to being able close out quarters strongly. The Magic went on a 7-0 run to end both the first and second quarter. Evan Fournier got it going early on, scoring 15 points in the first quarter. Fournier was able to get free in large part because Iman Shumpert was overzealous on defense, leaving his own man, gambling to get steals.

Tobias Harris went off at late in the second quarter, scoring ten straight points for the Magic. There was no defense in the first half, Orlando shot 57.1% while New York shot 47.5%.

Not even a minute into the second half, New York needed to take a quick time out because Orlando got themselves a double digit lead scoring on their first two possession. Derek Fisher did not want to let Orlando run away with the game. The Knicks responded in a big way, going on a 16-4 run, taking the lead 66-64. Carmelo Anthony was the catalyst for the run, responsible for 12 points, scoring ten and handing out an assist to J.R. Smith. But just as the Knicks were riding high, and held all the momentum in the game, taking the lead with 5:02 left in the third quarter, a minute later Anthony would foolishly pick up his fourth foul in the game, essentially taking himself out of the game.

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Knicks vs. Hawks 11/10/14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee

Pablo Prigioni returned for New York Monday night, it made no difference, Atlanta again would win, 91-85sweeping the home to home series.

Both teams played an extremely sloppy and ugly first half. Atlanta shot 32.4% from the field, and turned the ball over nine times in the first half. New York didn’t fare any better, shooting 42.5% in the first half, and committed eight turnovers. Kyle Krover, the difference maker Saturday night, scoring 27 points and drilling six-threes, missed a lot of good looks in the first half, going 1/8 from the field. Krover struggled all game, going 4/13 from the field, but would nail a dagger shot to clinch the game for the Hawks.

With the game tied at the half 38-38, New York came out to a good start, making back to back threes by Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway Jr. The run would get extended to 9-2 run on a Hardaway Jr. and-one on the following possession, extending the lead to 47-40. Continue reading →

Knicks @ Suns – 3-29-14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee

Friday night’s matchup featured two teams fighting desperately for their playoff lives with the Phoenix Suns clinging on for dear life onto their eighth spot, holding only a half a game advantage on the Dallas Mavericks. As for the Knicks, as poorly as they have played, the Atlanta Hawks have played that much worse, and are in a complete downward spiral losing five straight games, as New York climbed a game and a half back of the eighth seed.

Goran Dragic exploded out the opening gate, going 7-for-8 from the field, with three of them coming from beyond the arc, finishing the first quarter with 18 points. Phoenix as a team had six threes in the opening quarter, which should come as no surprise since the Suns are third in three-point field goals made with 9.4 made per game, and top five in the league in three-point field goal percentage with 37.6%. J.R. Smith kept New York in the game early in the first quarter, scoring back to back threes, after tying a franchise record the previous game with nine three-pointers made against the Sacramento Kings. Smith scored ten points in the first quarter, but cooled off significantly the rest of the game, going 2-for-7 the rest of the way. Continue reading →

Knicks vs. Timberwolves – 3-6-14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee

New York finally ended their losing streak, and their hero ironically was Raymond Felton, whom has recently been vilified by New York papers and tabloid for his illegal possession of firearms.  And rightfully so, especially if the allegations of him pointing the gun at his wife are true, but for now, that’s all it is, just allegations, and Felton will have his date in court soon enough. For one night though Felton was the hero.

            Raymond Felton had his best game, possibly all year, but definitely his best game since his arrest. Felton was great at getting into the paint and scoring, as well as facilitating the offense Wednesday night. Felton had the best +/- of any player with a +21 scoring18 points and handing out 8 assists, along with four steals. Felton made crucial plays in the fourth quarter, holding off any potential Minnesota comeback.

            Felton scored seven points and dished out three assist in the fourth quarter. The Timberwolves made a 7-0 to cut the Knicks’ lead into single figure 107-99 with 2:43 remaining in the game. After a quick timeout, Felton would hit a clutch floater to push the Knicks’ lead back up to double digits. Then Felton would put a cap on his fantastic night by hitting a three that essentially sealed the game with 1:08 remaining, making the score 114-101. New York would go on to defeat Minnesota 118-106. Continue reading →

Reexamining the Playoff Picture

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Written by William Lee

Mike Woodson still believes that his squad the New York Knicks has a chance at the playoffs still, even after their humiliating back to back losses to the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors. The Knicks were non-competitive in both these games, and what is most concerning is that New York are on a five game losing streak, and are 2-8 in their last ten games.

Early in February we looked into what would be a realistic finish to the rest of the Knicks’ schedule. Let’s now dive into and take a look into the standings, and the other team’s schedule to see if they might have a losing streak in the near future to even give New York fans any hope at all…to gain games in the standings and make the Playoffs. Or at the very least, not give a high draft pick to the Denver Nuggets, as New York is without their first round pick this year. The pick was a part of the blockbuster trade that brought over Carmelo Anthony to New York.

Currently New York is the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference, and are looking up at Detroit (10th seed) and Cleveland (9th seed). These teams aren’t even in the Playoffs! New York needs these two teams to fall off, as well the bubble of teams around the 6th to 8th seed in the bottom of the Playoffs to start losing. The bubble of teams at the end are Atlanta (8th seed), Charlotte (7th seed), Brooklyn (6th seed). Continue reading →

Knicks vs. Nuggets – 2-7-14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee
 
             Friday night’s game between the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks was a very competitive game to start, with both teams going back and forth. New York took an early 8-2 lead behind a hot start from Carmelo Anthony, who made his first six shots. Denver would turn it around with defense, forcing the Knicks into eight turnovers in the first quarter. New York, who is best in the league at minimizing turnovers at 12.8 per game, was out of character Friday night. Iman Shumpert had four turnovers in less than seven minutes by himself! The defense propelled the Nuggets to go on a 12-0 run to get a double digit lead 24-14 with 1:48 left in the game.
            In the second quarter, the script completely flipped, it was the Knicks defense that starting causing havoc, and getting the Nuggets to turnover. Denver had 11 turnovers in the second quarter, 7/8 of the players that played in the quarter all recorded at least one turnover. This helped give New York ten more possessions in the quarter than Denver.
            Pablo Prigioni and Amare Stoudemire were especially effective, when all the starters were resting in the beginning of the second quarter. They got New York back in the game, and when the starters came back in they effectively  ended the quarter well, going on a 13-2 run to end the first half to give the Knicks a 50-44 lead. Prigioni didn’t score a point in the game, but effected the games in other areas, with six assist and four steals. Stoudemire scored 17 points and grabbed 8 rebounds off the bench in 20 minutes of play.
            In the third quarter, everything went well for the Knicks, including the play that gave them a double digit lead. Carmelo Anthony missed badly on a three-point attempt, but Tyson Chandler was fortunate enough to be around the ball, and just lays it back in to give the Knicks a 59-48 lead with 9:04 left in the third quarter. That was the lone offensive rebound in the quarter, but not much was needed, as the Knicks almost made 2/3 of their shot attempts in the period. A blow out was in full effect by the end of the third quarter with the score 83-68, and no Knicks’ starters would be reinserted back into the lineup in the fourth quarter.
            New York had a great team victory, winning 117-90 with six players in double figures scoring. Carmelo Anthony led the way with 31 points in 32 minutes of play. Anthony had plenty of help as the Knicks’ bench scored 60 points in the game. New York’s frontline was impressive against the small Nugget’s frontline, Continue reading →

Knicks vs Celtics – 1-28-14 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee

After finally earning a win in matinée games Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers, New York looked to avenge a 114-73 matinée loss to the Boston Celtics from early December. With the Knicks down 0-2 in the season series so far, New York jumped out to an early lead, and never looked back, winning 114-88.

Reverse layup, slam dunk, Iman Shumpert got to the rim early, New York got into the paint easily, getting layups, dunks, just about whatever they wanted. Tyson Chandler put back, Pablo Prigioni reverse layup, Chandler alley opp, these are all the scores of the first few possessions that began the game. You get the picture, the Celtics could not defend the Knicks, and when they finally stopped the bleeding from the inside, New York would drop a three on them for good measure. New York finished the first quarter with 14 points in the paint, along with four threes to help double up on Boston 31-15 when it was all said and done in the period.

The closest the Celtics ever got back into the game, was within fourteen points, when they went on an 11-0 mid-way through the second quarter. With the score 45-31, Tim Hardaway Jr. would knock down two timely threes, and Boston never threatened again. Hardaway Jr would finish the game with 16 points off the bench. The bench contributed greatly to Tuesday night’s victory with 63 bench points. Reigning Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith contributed 17 points and 5 assist off the bench as well. Jeremy Tyler recorded 17 points as well, a majority of the time during garbage minutes, when the game was already out of hand, but nonetheless, a positive. Continue reading →

Knicks vs Pacers – 11-20-13 – Game Recap

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Written by William Lee
 
Paul George outduels Carmelo Anthony in the Pacers overtime win against the Knicks 103-96. George sent the game to overtime on an Iman Shumpert foul on a three point attempt, he calmly knocked down all three free throws. With the game all tied up at 89-89, the Knicks had 5.2 seconds left to win the game, going with their superstar Carmelo Anthony, but he could not deliver the victory, missing on a turnaround jumper. In the extra period Paul George scored nine of his season high 35 points, to pull away from the Knicks. George showed his complete array of offensive repertoire in overtime. Drawing first blood in overtime with a three to push the Pacers ahead 92-89 with 3:43 left in overtime. Then he scored on a pull up jumper, and then got Andrea Bargnani up in the air on a pump fake, and drawing a foul, knocking down both his free throws on the next possession. With 1:08 left in overtime George hit a dagger step back jumper to put the Pacers ahead 99-93. The Knicks could not keep pace with the Pacers in overtime, as Carmelo Anthony was the only Knick who scored, that wasn’t in garbage time. He tried his best to keep the Knicks close scoring four points in the extra session.
 
Carmelo Anthony started off great, scoring 17 points and grabbing seven rebounds by the end of the first half. The Knicks were the team that looked like they were the defensive stalwarts holding the Pacer scoreless for five minutes to start the game. The Knicks were up by as many as 13 points to nothing, before the Pacers clamped down on defense. The Knicks missed ten straight field goals, fueling a Pacers 14-6 run to end the first quarter. This was highlighted by a Roy Hibbert bank in three to cut into the deficit 19-14 to finish the quarter. Continue reading →