The Knicks got a big win on Friday night at home against the Bucks. This afternoon they took the trip out to the Meadowlands in a big game against the Nets, who right now are the biggest competition they have for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Knicks got off to a strong start tonight; Marbury was playing tough defense on Kidd, and Crawford was providing good help. Channing Frye was on fire, hitting his jump shots early (he started the game 5-6 from the field). The absence of David Lee seemed to make Frye appear as comfortable as he has all season long. The Knicks were moving the ball pretty well, especially Crawford, who finished with 10 assists.
Late in the 2nd quarter, with the Knicks up by like 10 points, Curry fouled Vince Carter. Vinny got a little mad, making a small shove movement (not a real shove) towards Curry; Q-Rich said something towards Carter, and that was that (for the record, it was with 3:30 left in the 1st half, and the foul was called on Frye, not Curry). Carter shot his free throws, but as we at SML have noted before: Vince Carter may not play motivated too often, but if he becomes motivated he is the most dangerous assassin in the game.
Fast forward to the 3rd quarter, where Carter (and the Nets) just took over and crushed the Knicks. He scored 10 points, and added two assists, in the first six minutes of the 3rd quarter. In that timespan the Nets went from nine down to three up. And they would never trail again.
The Nets won the rebounding battle tonight (by a small margin, 37 to 35), negating the Knicks huge advantage. David Lee's absence was obviously felt; had the Knicks been able to rebound like they normally do, chances are they might have been able to hold off the 3rd quarter surge by the Nets.
Oddly enough, Q-Rich seemed a little p*ssed off by Vince Carter, and in the fourth quarter started taking it to Carter, especially in the paint. I haven't seen Richardson spend that much time in the paint, but tonight not only was he banging in the paint, he was grabbing boards, too (9 of them). If only the Knicks could see that Q-Rich more often.
This loss leaves the Knicks calculated number to make the playoffs at 15 more wins; tomorrow night they play a big game against the Wade-less Heat. They need that game to catch up ground on another team ahead of them.
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I'm sad for the Knicks. Last night was their big chance, and they blew it! They are going to blown out by the Heat tonight, which is going to really hurt their playoff run. I'll be pulling for the Knicks all year, but at some point they need to start winning a couple of games in a row.
Slaq, JWil and Payton all played pretty heavy minutes last night, the only way they win ANY games from here on out is if they ride O'Neal. Do you think he's healthy enough to carry the load in back-to-backs? Why am I going to this game, it's going to be so ugly.
Jwil played less than 20 minutes, I think. They were saving him for NY. He loves the big stage.
I'm hoping for a big game from Walker tonight just to watch you squirm in your seat as your stomach churns.
He played 24, which isn't that far off his average. And I'm just happy I'm not watching this game on TV, my choices would be Clyde's butchering of the english language or those fruits from Miami squealing "tipey-toe three."
Have fun at the game tonight. I think the Knicks will be in control most of the evening and win by about 6-10 points. The key to beating the Knicks is to have a good point (no dice), and a good perimeter game - Capano should do well, but if the Knicks can outrebound Miami, and I think they will, they'll do fine.
Brandon and I will be at the garden tomorrow night. It should be a pitiful game w/ both teams coming off back-to-backs, but considering the average age of the Heat's current roster is about 45 I'm going to have to give the edge to the Knicks.