Knicks Hold On Despite Furious Memphis Comeback Attempt

Photo Credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Wednesday, March 27^th, 2013

Post Game Recap

Final Score: Memphis Grizzlies: 101 New York Knicks: 108

The Knicks came out on fire against the Grizzlies Wednesday night and cruised to a victory at Madison Square Garden.  The Knicks led by as many as 30 points but allowed the Grizzlies to get as close as five points in the fourth quarter after taking their foot off the gas.  The win ran the Knicks winning streak to six games, currently the longest in the NBA with the Heat’s 27 game winning streak ending tonight at the hands of the Chicago Bulls.  With the win the Knicks will be guaranteed to stay ahead of the Nets by at least two games and as many as three depending on how the Nets fare in Portland against the Trail Blazers.  The Knicks will look to extend their winning streak Friday night against the Charlotte Bobcats.

-Positives

• J.R. Smith is in the midst of quite possibly his best stretch of his career.  Tonight was the second straight game he scored at least 20 points in a half and second in a row he went for over 30, the first player to do that off the bench since Al Harrington in February of 2010.  Smith also tacked another game onto his game streak of shooting 50 percent or better.  Smith made a living at the free throw line tonight, knocking down 12 of his 13 attempts en route to a game high 35 points.  He shot 10 of 18 from the field and once again cut back on his three point attempts, taking only seven and knocking down three.  Smith also tied for the team high with seven rebounds and handed out two assists.  The Knicks have to love what they are getting from Smith right now as he is finally using his athleticism to his advantage.

• The Grizzlies disrespected Shumpert by putting slow footed power forward Zach Randolph on Iman Shumpert and he responded with as well as any player could have as he hit his first six shots of the game, four of which were three pointers.  Shumpert ended the game with 16 points, as he failed to score after making those first six attempts.  He added three rebounds, one assist and two steals as his hot start set the pace for the Knicks and was a big reason why they blew the Grizzlies out in the first half.  

• The Knicks defense in the first half could not have been any better.  They were rotating and closing out on three point shooters and shutting down the Grizzlies attack.  They allowed the Grizzlies to score only 41 points in the first half.

• The rebounding for the Knicks tonight was also very good.  They were outrebounded 34-31 but that has to be taken as a positive for the Knicks who were shorthanded to start the game up front and got even smaller when Marcus Camby was ejected from the game early in the third quarter.  Kenyon Martin was in foul trouble for most of the night leaving the Knicks scrambling with lineups including Chris Copeland, Steve Novak and Carmelo Anthony playing center.  For all of the problems they faced, losing the rebounding battle 34-31 is a win in my book.

• The offense, even with the struggles they had in the second half, ended up with very good percentages.  The Knicks shot 51.4 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from the three point line.  The hot start enabled the Knicks to open up a huge margin over the Grizzlies, maybe too big of a margin as the Knicks took it easy in the second half and had to fight towards the end to pull out the win.

-Negatives

• The effort in the second half on both sides of the court was not there for the Knicks in the second half.  They did not have the same energy or focus as they allowed the Grizzlies come within five points in the fourth quarter after being up by as many as 30.  The Knicks offense stalled while the defense relaxed, as the Grizzlies outscored the Knicks 60-39 in the second half.  The Knicks will need to give effort for all four quarters if they expect to make noise in the playoffs, playing only half of the game will not cut it.

·         The Knicks fouled too often in this game, a big factor in the Grizzlies getting back into the game.  On the night the Knicks had 25 fouls, equaling 35 free throw attempts by the Grizzlies.  The Grizzlies were able to take points off the lead without time running off the clock as the Knicks got into the penalty with less than three minutes passed in the third quarter.  The Knicks also lost their composure for a little while in the second half, as Marcus Camby picked up two technical fouls early in the second half and Anthony followed that up with one of his own when he felt the referees weren’t giving him enough calls.