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| Streeter Lecka/Getty Images |
By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)
Friday, March 29th, 2013
Pre-Game News and Notes
Charlotte Bobcats vs. New York Knicks
The Knicks enter Friday night’s game
looking to extend their six game winning streak against the lowly Bobcats. To put into perspective just how poor the
Bobcats have been, the Heat’s 27-game win streak that was snapped earlier in
the week is more wins than the Bobcats have had since last season
combined. This is a game the Knicks
cannot lose as the Bobcats are an awful road team, losing their last eight games on the road by an average of 23.1 points per game. Here are some things to watch for tonight.
-Can J.R. Continue His Streak?
J.R. Smith is in the midst of the best
played basketball of his career, scoring 30 points in back-o-back times for the
first time in his career. It is also the
first time a bench played has done that since 2010 when Al Harrington
accomplished the feat. Smith has been
super-efficient over the time as well, shooting 50 percent or better in five
games in a row.
The biggest reason for Smith’s success
has been his constant attacking of the rim.
This has resulted in a 53.6 percent shooting and 7.6 free throw attempts
per game. When Smith attacks the rim the
Knicks are a much more dangerous team.
Smith has also been aggressive on the
glass, averaging 6.2 rebounds over that span; it is not the biggest number but
for a guard is very good especially with the Knicks missing Tyson Chandler for
the past eight games. This new
aggressive Smith has given the Knicks an efficient scorer during this streak to
go with the volume shooting of Carmelo Anthony.
-Can Carmelo Turn it Around?
As Smith has been super efficient the
last few games, Carmelo Anthony has seen his plummet. In his last two games, Anthony has gone 18 of
50 from the field, equaling a lousy and inefficient 36 percent from the
field.
Where Anthony has been struggling is
with his jump shot, as his three point shooting percentage has continued to
drop as the season went along. In his
last two games Anthony has gone only two of 10 from the three point line and in
his last game it doesn’t get much better has he is only shooting 26.9 percent
from the three point line in his last five games.
Anthony should take the Smith approach
and attack the basket as there are not many people who can stop him in the
post. He is also very good on second and
third attempts at the rim, resulting in easy baskets and free throw attempts.
There are not many teams in the NBA
worse than the Bobcats so it would be nice to see Anthony take a different
approach in the game tonight and attack the basket and let the jump shots come
after that.
-Don’t Take Them Easy
The Knicks should look to take advantage
of their strengths early and often in the game and get off to a fast start
against the lowly Bobcats. The Knicks haven’t
had the strongest of first quarters in their last few games and it would be
nice to see them get off to a hot start and put the Bobcats away early.
Also, if they allow a poor playing,
young team hungry for a win to stick around too long it could result in being a
dog fight for the Knicks in a game that they should win easily.
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