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!