By Tommy Rothman
The seeds are set, the selections are in, and the tournament is open! Choose your favorite from each of the selections in our 8 first-round matchups. Voting will be open until the end of the day on July 23.
ROUND 1
Division 1
Matchup 1
#1 Knicks crush Heat on opening day after Sandy, Sheed hits first 3.
VERSUS
#8 Steve Novak’s floater off the dribble
Analysis: There were so many amazing things about that Heat game. The word “Amazing” also comes into play whenever Steve Novak dribbles and hits a 2-pointer.
Matchup 2
#2 JR Smith ridiculous alley-oop from Pablo Prigioni
VERSUS
#7 Knicks’ big comeback vs Spurs
Analysis: Good things happen when we play the Spurs. The dunk was one of the best alley-oops you will see. The comeback gave us a win in a big statement game.
Matchup 3
#3 Knicks win playoff series, send Boston packing
VERSUS
#6 Carmelo scores 50 on Heat
Analysis: Winning a playoff series for the first time in years was a big relief. Watching Carmelo drop 50 was thrilling, even if the Heat did keep their big guns on the bench for that game.
Matchup 4
#4 Knicks crush heat without Carmelo (or STAT, or Shump)
VERSUS
#5 Knicks hit 19 3’s, including one from Kurt, and crush Kings as STAT goes perfect from the field
Analysis: A second consecutive rout over Miami, on the road, without our main player(s) was pretty amazing. So was watching Kurt drill a 3.
Division 2
Matchup 5
#1 Iman Shumpert’s putback slam
VERSUS
#8. Tyson’s putback dunk on Lopez and Wallace
Analysis: Shump’s dunk came in the playoffs, at the Garden, and was more astounding. Tyson’s dunk came at the expense of his inner-city rival Lopez.
Matchup 6
#2 Jason Kidd’s game-winning 3 vs Nets
VERSUS
#7 Carmelo scores 42 and puts in game-winning And-One vs Hawks
Analysis: Beating the Nets in their house on a shot from the greatest player in their franchise history was pretty great. So was watching Melo do what he does best.
Matchup 7
#3 JR Smith hits 2 buzzer beaters vs Charlotte, Phoenix.
VERSUS
#6 Kenyon Martin dunks on Birdman
Analysis: JR’s shots were against horrible teams, but they were game-winners. On the other hand, Kenyon made a formidable defender look like a child.
Matchup 8
#4 Rasheed Wallace vouches for the honesty of the ball
VERSUS
#5 Kurt Thomas sacrifices body in final game of career to save the Knicks’ season
Analysis: A very tough call. KT’s moment was more crucial, but Sheed’s was more entertaining.
Cast your votes!
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