 |
| Scott Cunningham/Getty Images |
Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)
Wednesday, April
3rd, 2013
Post Game Recap
Final Score: New
York Knicks: 95 Atlanta Hawks: 82
The Knicks once
again handled business in the second half, specifically the fourth quarter, and
extended their winning streak much like they did against the Heat last
night. With the win they ran their
record in the second night of back-to-backs to 11-6 on the season and also
clinched a winning record on the road, winning their 21st game away
from Madison Square Garden tonight. The Knicks
magic number is down to four now to win the Atlantic Division and they move a ½
game ahead of the Pacers for second place in the Eastern Conference. They will look to make that number smaller and
increase their lead over the Pacers Friday against the Bucks back at Madison
Square Garden.
-Positives
·
Carmelo
Anthony started the game slow, going one of four to start the game but by the
end night was again lighting up the scoreboard, going for 40 points in the
game. He went 17 of 27 from the field,
doing a lot of his damage in the paint tonight and not from the perimeter like
he did against Miami, going only one of two from the three point line and five
of six from the foul line tonight. Anthony
looked well on his way to another 50 point performance tonight, but instead of
forcing the issue he took a backseat to his teammates and let them take over
the fourth quarter. Atlanta keyed in on
him in the fourth quarter after scoring 36 points in the first three quarters
and Anthony let his teammates do their thing.
Tonight was the seventh time this season that Anthony scored 40+ points,
tying him for the NBA lead with Kobe Bryant.
·
Much
like Anthony, J.R. Smith struggled mightily at the beginning of the game but
finished strong to help get the Knicks the win tonight. Smith missed six of his first nine field goal
attempts in the game, but ended up going eight for 15 in the game, coming on
strong specifically in the fourth quarter when he scored 10 of his 19 points in
the game. Smith was a big factor in the
Knicks outscoring the Hawks by 13 in the final quarter, as he did not stuff the
stat sheet in other categories as much tonight as Knicks fans have come
accustomed to so seeing him turn around his early struggles and score some
baskets was a nice thing to see.
·
Much
like last night against the Heat, Raymond Felton struggled through the first
three quarters of the game but turned it on in the fourth. Felton scored 10 points of his own in the fourth
quarter, including a stretch midway through in which he scored three straight
layups to give the Knicks an eight point lead. Felton’s aggressiveness increased
exponentially in the third quarter and helped lead the Knicks to the victory
tonight. On the night Felton finished
with 14 points, three rebounds and five assists.
·
When
the Knicks needed to get stops they got them tonight. They were struggling in slowing down the
Hawks in the third quarter but turned it all around in the fourth, holding the
Hawks to only 14 fourth quarter points after surrendering 28 in the third
quarter. The key to success to slowing
the Hawks down in that fourth quarter was the increased perimeter defense the
Knicks showed, slowing down the likes of Kyle Korver.
-Negatives
·
As
if the Knicks had not dealt with enough knee and leg injuries this season, they
have suffered yet another one. Kenyon
Martin tonight was the victim, getting shut down in the second half with what
the Knicks were calling a sore knee. If he
is to miss any time it is a massive blow to a Knicks squad already without Amar’e
Stoudemire, Rasheed Wallace and Kurt Thomas for the remainder of the regular
season and potentially the playoffs.
Martin was really coming into his own for the Knicks as well, leading
the team in rebounding tonight with nine and filling in admirably for Chandler
when he went down with his own injuries.
·
The
Knicks were killed by Kyle Korver tonight and if not for Anthony’s great
offensive performance the end result easily could have been reversed. The Knicks were unable to keep track of
Korver on the perimeter for most of the night, as Korver showed why he is one
of the best shooters in the NBA by knocking down six of 10 three point attempts
en route to scoring 25 points. Korver
was a factor on the boards and on defense as well, grabbing six rebounds in the
game and getting two blocks as well.
Korver was the only player for the Hawks on the court that was an
offensive threat yet the Knicks were unable to contain him, something that will
need to be worked on come playoff time as the Knicks cannot allow players to
get comfortable and go off on them like Korver did tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment