Not much of a surprise here tonight; the Knicks played a solid game against a solid team that is slightly ahead of them in the playoff race. This victory could have an effect on the playoff picture later in the year, though even I think it will not.
The action was almost textbook: Knicks start Jerome James for the sixth straight game; for the sixth straight game he is uneffective (not ineffective, UNeffective... he's so bad you just have to make sh*t up to describe him). James played the first five minutes, had two fouls and two turnovers. Knicks fall behind quickly 8-0. They get back into, thanks to Richardson's 3PT shooting and Marbury's dishing. James gets replaced by David Lee, Knicks go on a run. James doesn't make it off the bench. Everyone goes home happy.
Anyway, the Knicks won tonight by sharing the scoring burden (5 players with double figures), hitting their shots (especially the threes)... they shot almost 50% tonight, and Q-Rich and Crawford were able to hit a good amount of their threes. They also got to the line alot (they usually do), especially Marbury (8-10). They attacked the basket, spread the offense, and got Curry some high % shots (he was 8-9). More importantly, they held the Magic to 94 points and 42% shooting tonight. Not a good game for the Magic (they seemed rusty), but the Knicks will take it.
Tomorrow night they play at the 76ers in a tough game for them. The Knicks struggle in the latter half of back to backs, and they tend to play down to inferior opponents. On top of that, they have had a tough time in the past trying to contain Andre Miller. All the signs are there for a letdown, but I still think the Knicks will find a way to pull it off. The Knicks are definitely aiming for the playoffs, and with good reason - their pick is not lottery protect, so it belongs to the Bulls, and therefore the Knicks do not want to even see that pick in play at all come lottery time.
By the way, I am really interested in knowing how much longer the Jerome James experiment is going to last - Zeke, buddy, you ain't getting rid of him. He'll outlast all of us... Zeke, Dolan, SML, Lupica... every last one of us. The machines could rise, gain awareness, and declare war on us; my laptop could lick off a shot in my ass, humanity could be wiped out and you know what... Jerome James would still be a f*cking Knick. Give it up Zeke.
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