Tag Archives: 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

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

Postgame Reaction: Knicks 89, Wizards 90

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The New York Knicks Knicks lost a nail-biter to the Washington Wizards on Friday night at the Garden, coming up short in the final seconds and suffering a 90-89 defeat. 

J.R. Smith had an amazing game for the Knicks, scoring 32 points and hitting eight three-pointers. However, his off-balance, contested shot in the final seconds was off the mark. 

Amar’e Stoudemire got off to a slow start for New York, but turned it around after halftime and finished with 16 points.

Raymond Felton struggled for most of the night, but did dish out 7 assists and pull down 5 rebounds. Raymond also hit a huge three to put the Knicks ahead in the final minute. 

Pablo Prigioni and Iman Shumpert both looked very solid on both ends of the floor. Pablo had 7 assists and Iman had 3 steals.

Carmelo Anthony was horrible in this game. Melo finished with 10 points on 5-14 shooting, and turned the ball over 9 times. He was also unable to hold on to the ball on his drive to the rim in the final seconds, and as a result, JR Smith was forced to take a ridiculously difficult shot (which he almost made, of course). Melo appeared to be hurt throughout the game, and after the game Anthony said that there were times where he couldn’t use his arm. Melo was diagnosed with a strained right shoulder, and plans to play through it in Miami on Sunday. The Knicks have to hope that this injury doesn’t take a huge hit on Melo’s level of play going forward, but Anthony was very disappointing tonight, and perhaps Woodson should have called a play for Smith, rather than, as Felton spilled to reporters after the game, simply telling the Knicks to “give the ball to Melo”. Anthony did have 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals, so there are some positives, but overall, it was a very poor game for the Knicks’ superstar.

The Hawks won tonight, so they have a 1 game lead (really a 2 game lead, because they have the tiebreaker) over the Knicks for the final playoff spot. The Knicks have a chance to make the playoffs, but it is a long shot. New York has lost several games that they should have won, and now they need to hope that Atlanta will return the favor in the final 2 weeks of the season. And at the end of the day, the Knicks will probably need to steal a win or two against teams most people don’t think they can beat. 

Tough loss, but it’s not over yet. Let’s see what happens.

-Tommy Rothman

Pregame Report: Washington Wizards @ New York Knicks

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 The Knicks (33-43) will host the Wizards (39-36) on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Gametime is 7:30 PM.

The Knicks know this is a huge game for them and must do whatever it takes to get a win. As always, keys to the game include ball movement, knocking down open shots, and effort (especially from Tyson Chandler).

The Wizards have the quickest point guard in the league; John Wall is a matchup nightmare for the Knicks. Raymond Felton can’t guard him. So Raymond Felton shouldn’t guard him. It’s up to Mike Woodson to make the obvious and correct decision to have Iman Shumpert— who did a fantastic job on Deron Williams Wednesday night— guarding Wall whenever they are both on the court. It will be Shumpert’s responsibility to avoid committing foolish fouls that keep him off the court.

The Knicks were unstoppable on Wednesday when they were moving the ball, but allowed the Nets to make a bit of a run in the 3rd quarter when Carmelo Anthony and his teammates started looking to play 1-on-1 ball. This can’t happen tonight. The Knicks need to be unselfish throughout the game.

Chandler did a solid job Wednesday, but his effort level has been inconsistent this year, so it’s anybody’s guess whether he will show up tonight. The Knicks need their starting center to provide energy and leadership tonight.

Washington has some pretty good shooters, including Bradley Beal. Beal and Martell Webster torched the Knicks when the Wizards came to the Garden in December, and that can’t happen again tonight.

The Knicks enter tonight tied for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. If the two teams finished tied at the end of the season, Atlanta would win the tiebreaker. New York, at 33-43 has 6 games left, while the Hawks, at 32-42, have 8 games remaining. Atlanta plays the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight. If the Knicks can play a good game, they can put a lot of pressure on the Hawks. Let’s see if we can get a win tonight.

-Tommy Rothman

Wizards’ unconfirmed Starting Lineup: Wall, Beal, Booker, Ariza, Gortat

Knicks’ unconfirmed Starting Lineup: Felton, Smith, Anthony, Stoudemire, Chandler

Tickets for the game: Here