The Knicks beat the Clippers by an even dozen yesterday; surprisingly the sportsmedia did not find a way to diminish this accomplishment very much. Normally when the Knicks beat someone, they will point out the empty seats (Cavs), the missing stars (Milwaukee, Atlanta, Lakers, etc), or the fact that they are playing a lottery-bound team (76ers). With all three excuses unavailable, I guess the sportswriters just had to admit the Knicks played well and won a game.
The crowd was certainly not as full as it could have been, but they were loud, and into it (even while embarassingly doing the wave in the 4th quarter). Eddy Curry scored 23, drew a ton of fouls (16 FTA), and even passed the ball a little, getting three assists. Those two assists in the fourth (plus a few other decent passes that didn't result in points) illustrate his continued growth - he's getting smarter and the team is benefiting from it. In particular, the two fourth quarter assists went to Q-Rich for an open 3PT, and Frye for an open mid-range jumper... that's who he should be passing to, at the right spots. You don't want the pass to go to Lee (unless he's moving towards the basket) or Crawford (rarely shoots a straight jumper, relays heavily on dribble-stepping into-jumper moves). Over the past couple of months I've seen Curry add a lefthand finish, a step through when the double comes, and now some savvy passing. Guess what naysayers? He's 24, and he's still learning. He may not be the second coming of Shaq, but he's a future All-Star center.
David Lee led the Knicks in rebounding and hustle, despite taking an elbow from Tim Thomas.
The Jerome James Showcase took a predictably turn yesterday. He started the game, drew two quick fouls in under 5 minutes, and sat on the bench for the rest of the half. The Knicks trailed at the half by 10, but open the second half with a 17-2 run spurred by David Lee's replacing Jerome James 2 minutes in, and that was it for James (total: 7 minutes, 2 fouls, 0 points). Sigh. Guess Knicks fans better get used to him on the bench for the next four years.
This win brings the record to 22-28, or 18-19 since their 4-9 start. It also makes them even at home: Isiah Thomas said after his team improved to 13-13 at the Garden. "I never thought we'd see .500 at home." Indeed, since the team started off horribly (1-7, thanks in large part to booing fans conditioned to hate Marbury and Zeke thanks to the sportsmedia) they have gone 12-6, which is pretty damn good for the Eastern Conference.
Three games until the All-Star Break - on the road against the Jazz, Lakers, and Warriors. And while one would guess the Warriors would be an easy victory, and the other two easy loses, the reality is that the Knicks are too unpredictable - they play well against good teams, and bad against sh*tty teams. Look for the Jazz and Lakers games to be close, and avoid the Warriors game, which will probably end up being a 30-point defeat...
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