Pregame Report: Knicks @ Raptors

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The New York Knicks (33-45) will visit the Toronto Raptors (46-32) tonight. Gametime is 7 PM

Starters for New York: Felton, Smith, Anthony, Stoudemire, Chandler

Starters for Toronto: Unconfirmed (Raptors may rest some players)

 

The Raptors are 2-0 against the Knicks this season, but Carmelo Anthony did not play in either of those games. Melo is hurt once again, but will play tonight. If Anthony cannot be productive, yet insists on trying to be productive, the Knicks will lose. If he is off his game, it is up to him to start moving the ball or driving more instead of taking jumpers, and it is up to Coach Woodson to sit him if he doesn’t change his style of play. That won’t happen, so let’s hope he can be his usual self tonight, for everybody’s sake.

You know the drill by now. The Knicks probably need to win all of their final 4 games to make the playoffs, and even that might not be enough. Atlanta and New York each have 4 games left, and any combination of 2 Hawks Wins / Knicks Losses clinches the 8 seed for Atlanta and eliminates the Knicks. So let’s hope we can get a win tonight.

Assuming Toronto doesn’t rest their starters, the keys to the game will be containing DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry on the perimeter, and prevent Jonas Valanciunas from slaughtering us on the inside (using hustle, not an advanced skill set). 

Let’s see if we can get the win tonight, and let’s hope the Nets— who will be resting some starters— can help us out and beat the Hawks. If the Knicks lose and the Hawks win, it’s over. If the Knicks win and the Hawks lose, things could get interesting…

-Tommy Rothman

Knicks’ Jeremy Tyler to host a Night Of Awareness for Hailey’s Hope Foundation (Info & Invitation)

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In January, shortly after Jeremy Tyler signed with the Knicks and around the same time he let me do an interview with him, Jeremy’s first child was born 3 months premature. Jeremy’s son, Jeremy Junior, spent months in the hospital fighting for his life, but, fortunately, was allowed to come home to Jeremy and his girlfriend Sukey.

 

On Saturday, Jeremy will be hosting “A Night of Awareness” to benefit Hailey’s Hope Foundation, a charity that supports families with critically ill babies in the New York area. HHF reaches out to families in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, helping pay non-medical costs such as gas, lodging, and meals, and by offering care packages, calling in and checking up on families, educating parents, working with doctors and nurses, and funding clinical research.

 

Jeremy is hosting this event to bring awareness to the foundation and the alarming number of premature babies being born every day.

 

The official invitation:

Experience an unforgettable evening with Jeremy Tyler of the New York Knicks and his NBA friends to benefit Hailey’s Hope Foundation.

 Join them as they celebrate and raise money for Hailey’s Hope Foundation’s programs that support premature and critically ill babies and their families in New York-area Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs).

 Jeremy Tyler will share his personal journey and connection to the cause and honor Hailey’s Hope Foundation’s leaders. Guests will enjoy a buffet-style dinner, music, great auctions and more.

Tickets are $40 each (cash bar) and can be purchased at the link below.

Tickets – http://www.haileyshopefoundation.org/?post_type=event&p=2016

Event Schedule

6pm-7pm – Cocktail hour, buffet-style dinner, silent auction open

7pm-8pm – Charity introduction, living testimonies, end silent auction

8pm-9pm – Introduce Jeremy, personal connection to charity, share his story introduce teammates, high-profile guests and thank everyone for coming.

After 9pm – We will have a DJ performing, open format, but that will not be affiliated with Hailey’s Hope program.

 

If you cannot make the event, but still want to support the cause you can donate in honor of Jeremy Tyler and Sukey Rowan: http://www.haileyshopefoundation.org/how-to-help/donate/

 

 

Help support Jeremy and this great charity! And check out the interview we did with Jeremy back in January!

-Tommy Rothman 

 

 

 

LeBron gets blocked (cleanly) at the buzzer, cries (GIF)

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The block: Clean

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Such Lies, LeBron…

LeBron-Reaction

Such Lies…

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Tim Hardaway Junior tries to stop LeBron, fails miserably (GIF)

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See what happens when you DON’T flop, LeBron?

 ScalyNaughtyGodwitNever again, Timmy. Never again.

Knicks Lose 102-91 In Miami, Putting Playoff Chances On Life Support (Postgame Reaction)

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The Knicks (33-45) lost to the Heat (53-23) by a score of 102-91 on Sunday afternoon in Miami.

The Knicks started out hot, jumping out to a 16-3 lead. But the Knicks quickly squandered their advantage, and were down 8 in the blink of an eye. The Knicks did rally to regain the lead by halftime, but a miserable 3rd quarter rendered a decent 4th quarter comeback attempt irrelevant. 

J.R. Smith was amazing today. Smith hit a Knicks record 10 threes on an NBA record 22 attempts. Smith also broke NBA records for most games with 10 or more threes made (3) and most threes made in a three-game span (24). 

Carmelo Anthony was bad for the second game in a row. He was also battling a shoulder injury for the second game in a row. Maybe they are related, and he shouldn’t be playing 44 minutes a game?  

Amar’e Stoudemire was cold for most of the game, but I don’t think he passed once. He has to be better about moving the ball…

Raymond Felton was pretty good today, but 2 early fouls (both of them bad calls) sent him to the bench when he was hot and helped Miami go on a run.

The Knicks had no answer for LeBron James, who scored 38 points. However, the thing that killed New York was their inability to stop Miami’s shooters. Every time the Knicks threatened to gain some momentum, Miami would hit from beyond the arc.

The Knicks will almost certainly miss the playoffs at this point. If the Hawks beat the Pacers tonight, it’s practically over. The Knicks are 1.5 games back, and because Atlanta has the tiebreaker, it is really 2.5. New York’s “tragic number”— the combination of Knicks losses and Hawks wins needed to eliminate the Knicks— is now 4. The Knicks have 4 games left and the Hawks have 7 (including the Pacers game tonight). The Knicks play the Raptors twice, the Nets, and the Bulls. The Hawks play the Pacers, Heat, Nets, Bobcats, Celtics, Pistons, and Bucks. If the Knicks go 4-0, the Hawks will need to lose 4 of those games, so they would have to lose to at least one of the Celtics, Pistons, and Bucks. If the Knicks go 3-1 (with the Bulls game looking like a very tough game to win), Atlanta would need to lose 5 of those games, meaning at least two losses against those 3 weak teams. The game the Hawks are most likely to steal is the one with Charlotte. I could see them losing to the Pistons. 

Either way, the Knicks have a huge uphill battle ahead of them. New York does not have another game until Friday, while the Hawks have 3 games during that span (Pacers, Pistons, Celtics). On Friday, the Knicks will play the Raptors and the Hawks will play the Nets. So in the next week, we will find out whether the Hawks can help us out and keep the Knicks alive. 

-Tommy Rothman