Postgame Reaction: Knicks 109, Nets 98

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The Knicks (36-45) defeated the Nets (44-37) by a score of 109-98 on Tuesday night in Brooklyn. 

Carmelo Anthony sat this one out for New York, so the Knicks’ secondary scorers stepped up to carry the load. Tim Hardaway Junior led the team in scoring for the 2nd game in a row, with 16 points including 4 three-pointers. Amar’e Stoudemire, JR Smith, and Shannon Brown (not a typo) were next with 14 points apiece. Cole Aldrich (I’m serious, guys, I promise!) had 13 points  and 13 rebounds, and Iman Shumpert had 11 points and 3 steals (including one incredibly athletic deflection which has me convinced that he would be the Jets’ best cornerback).

Mike Woodson used this game to take a look at some players who haven’t seen many minutes, such as Brown, Aldrich, and youngsters Toure Murry and Jeremy Tyler. All four of them looked pretty solid. As a result, veterans Pablo Prigioni and Tyson Chandler only played 5 minutes tonight. Tyson spent the rest of the game practicing his clapping.

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Keep practicing, TC…

The Knicks won the season series 3-1 over the Nets. All 4 games were blowouts. While the Nets are headed to the playoffs and we are not, it’s nice to win the season series to get some personal, one-on-one bragging rights. The Knicks have now won 3 in a row, and will look to finish their season strong on Wednesday night against the Raptors at Madison Square Garden. Tickets can be purchased here

-Tommy Rothman

 

 

Pregame Report: Knicks @ Nets

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The Knicks (35-45) will visit the Nets (44-36) tonight in Brooklyn. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 PM, but the game is on TNT, so it will probably be later… 

The Knicks have already been eliminated at this point, so one might view this game as meaningless. But with a win, we can clinch the season series over our crosstown rivals, which would be nice. And Brooklyn injured Carmelo Anthony (who will miss tonight’s game) in our last matchup, so maybe the Knicks can get chippy tonight and return the favor (I’m kidding. Kind of.).  

Phil Jackson will certainly be watching this game on TV (or in person), so the Knicks still need to play hard to impress the new boss. Mike Woodson said that he planned on giving Toure Murry and Jeremy Tyler some minutes; let’s see if he sticks to that plan. 

Again, the result doesn’t matter too much either way, but we definitely want to win the season series against the Nets, and a lot of players on this team are trying to show the front office what they can bring to the table in the future. So this isn’t a game that New York should just throw away.

Let’s see what the team can do tonight. And let’s see what plays Mike Woodson actually knows aside from Iso-Melo.

-Tommy Rothman

 

BREAKING: Carmelo Anthony Has Tear In Shoulder, Out For The Season

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Knicks star Carmelo Anthony has a small tear in the labrum of his right shoulder and will miss the final two games of the season, the team announced. 

Anthony played through a more serious shoulder injury in the playoffs last year, but with the Knicks already eliminated, there is no reason for him to take any chances. Carmelo made the choice to skip surgery last summer, but it remains to be seen what he will do this time. This is not the same shoulder Anthony injured last year. Melo will be re-evaluated in about a month.

Carmelo’s injury came at the worst possible time for the Knicks, costing them at least one and probably two games last week as the Knicks were eliminated from playoff contention. After struggling against the Wizards and Heat, Anthony looked pretty good against the Raptors and Bulls, but again, now that an MRI has revealed a tear in his shoulder, it is smart of him to just call it a season. We can only hope that we haven’t seen the last of Carmelo Anthony in a Knicks uniform.

-Tommy Rothman

Postgame Reaction: Knicks 100, Bulls 89

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The Knicks (35-45) defeated the Bulls (47-33) by a score of 100-89 on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.

Tim Hardaway Junior led the way for the Knicks with 20 points. He was followed by Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith (17 points each), Raymond Felton (14), Amar’e Stoudemire (12), and Iman Shumpert (10). Tyson Chandler only scored 1 point, but he managed to contribute by pulling down 12 boards and playing solid defense. 

The Knicks got out-rebounded, they sent the Bulls to the line on seemingly every play, and they weren’t very efficient from downtown. The key to this victory was New York’s defense, which held the Bulls to 39% shooting and forced 16 turnovers. 

Smith, Stoudemire, and Shumpert all had their struggles earlier in the year, but have been solid down the stretch and hopefully they can make a more consistent contribution next year. Tim Hardaway Junior has been a bright spot for the Knicks all season, and he was once again great in this game. He is a very important piece of our future.

Like I said before the game, we wanted to get this win for Melo-Retention reasons and to screw over the Nets a bit. We were also “Playing for Pride”. Getting a win is always nice, so even though we’ve already been eliminated, this was a fun and stress-free night to be a Knicks fan.

Up next: The Knicks will visit the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday. Tickets can be purchased here

-Tommy Rothman

Pregame Report: Knicks vs Bulls

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The Knicks (34-45) will host the Chicago Bulls (47-32) tonight at Madison Square Garden. Gametime is 7:30 PM.

The Knicks were eliminated last night when the Hawks beat the Heat, so in many ways, this game is meaningless.

But Carmelo Anthony is a free agent, and the Bulls are the favorite to sign him if he leaves the Knicks. The Bulls have a great coach, a great team, and players willing to do the things Melo is usually not (pass, play defense, etc). The Bulls play in a big city. The Bulls can clear enough cap room for Melo pretty easily. So the Knicks probably don’t want to get embarrassed by Chicago tonight, 4 days before they begin their desperate quest to keep Melo. But anyway, I’ll save all this Melo talk for another post…

Watch the Bulls tonight. Watch what a well-coached team with unselfish players can do, even when they have lost key players to trade or injury. Let’s hope the Knicks can become that kind of team: a team that does what it takes to win. They did it last year, and their failure to get gritty and do the little things this year caused this season to be a failure. 

It is unclear who will play today. For the Knicks, the usual starting lineup is Raymond Felton, JR Smith, Melo, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler. But with the Knicks out of the playoff race and Melo battling a shoulder injury, Mike Woodson might sit his star instead of continuing his tradition of running Anthony into the ground for 45 minutes. 

Beating the Bulls tonight gives the Bulls a better chance of falling into 4th place and meeting the Nets in the first round. The Nets would much rather play the Raptors. So let’s win tonight, and try to screw over the Nets. We owe them one. 

-Tommy Rothman

Postgame Reaction: Knicks Beat Raptors To Stay Alive… For Now

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The Knicks (34-45) beat the Raptors (46-33) by a score of 108-100 in Toronto. 

Carmelo Anthony led the way for the Knicks, scoring 30 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and notching 3 steals.

Amar’e Stoudemire was fantastic as well for New York, pouring in 24 points and pulling down 11 boards. 

Iman Shumpert had another solid game, with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals.

It was nice to see Carmelo have one of his usual games tonight, after having 2 awful games against Washington and Miami. His shoulder looks much healthier after 4 days of rest. 

Stoudemire’s resurgence has been the best story of the 2nd half for this Knicks team. After all he has fought through, seeing him get back to being a force on the offensive end is inspiring. Hopefully he can finish the year strong, and contribute again next season. 

The Hawks won last night. This simplifies things. If the Knicks go 3-0 (against the Bulls, Nets, and Raptors), and the Hawks go 0-3 (against the Heat, Bobcats, and Bucks), the Knicks will make the playoffs. In any other scenario, the Hawks would make the playoffs. If the Knicks go 2-1 and the Hawks go 0-3, or the Knicks go 3-0 and the Hawks go 1-2, the two teams would finish tied. But even though they split the season series 2-2, the Hawks have the tiebreaker (which is ridiculous, but I’ll write about that later). So if the Knicks lose again, or the Hawks win again, it’s all over.

 

We need the Heat to help us out by beating the Hawks tonight. Then we need to keep the pressure on Atlanta by beating the Bulls tomorrow. 

-Tommy Rothman