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| Anthony Gruppuso/ USA TODAY Sports |
By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)
Monday, April 15th, 2013
Pre-Game News and Notes
New York Knicks vs. Charlotte Bobcats
Coming off a big win in clinching the
second seed in the Eastern Conference yesterday afternoon against the Pacers,
the Knicks will get right back at it tonight against the lowly Bobcats and keep
building on their momentum into the playoffs.
Tonight’s game could be a hard one to watch as many of the Knicks
rotation players are expected to sit out as the Knicks can no longer accomplish
anything in the regular season; they just hope to get through this game and
Wednesday against the Hawks without any more injuries occurring. Here are some things to watch for in the game
tonight:
-Who Is Playing?
Mike Woodson will get a chance to see
who deserves to round out his rotation heading into the playoffs tonight as the
Knicks will be without a lot of rotation players. Starters Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler
are both out with a sore shoulder and neck respectively and reserve Kenyon
Martin will also sit with knee soreness.
Anthony hasn’t missed a game since having his knee drained so getting
him some rest will do some good.
J.R. Smith has not been announced as
out, but being the only Knick to not miss a game this season he could use a
little breather as well. Look for Raymond
Felton to have his minutes limited most likely as well as he injured his ankle
Thursday against Chicago.
Salomon Jones, who the Knicks signed
Friday, was released today as the Knicks big men are looking closer to
return. He expectedly looked out of
place in his two games with the team, as little practice time makes it hard for
him to fit in with new teammates. The Knicks
are expected to sign a player to fill Jones’ roster spot.
One player who may actually make an
appearance tonight is Rasheed Wallace. There
is a chance tonight that he will get on the court and get ready for the
playoffs after a 15-week absence because of a foot injury. Getting Wallace back in the lineup would be a
huge boost for a Knicks squad that has been ravaged up front with injuries.
-Make Most of Opportunities
With the playoff rotation set for the
most part, there are very few minutes to be given to the reserve players as
rotations are usually cut in the playoffs as coaches lean towards using their best
players more often. With so many
rotation players sitting tonight, Woodson will be using a lot of those reserves
and they will have a chance tonight and Wednesday to show why they deserve
those left over minutes.
Two people to keep an eye on are Chris
Copeland and Steve Novak. Both offer
offensive tools the Knicks can use in the playoffs but struggle on the
defensive side of the court and rebounding.
Both players are wildcards heading into the playoffs and will do
themselves some good in playing well these last two games.
-Scoring Title up for Grabs
With Anthony sitting out tonight and
possibly Wednesday night as well, the scoring title will come down to how well
Kevin Durant performs. Currently,
Anthony sits .6 points per game ahead of Durant for the scoring title. If he does not suit up in either game, Durant
needs to score 99 points in his last two games to overtake Anthony or 71 tonight
against the Kings to take over the top spot.
The scoring title is the last thing on the Knicks mind, or at least
should be, as getting Anthony healthy and ready for the playoffs should be the
number one concern.
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