Knicks End 7-Game Home Losing Streak in Blowout Fashion

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Friday, December 6^th, 2013

Orlando Magic vs. New York Knicks

Post Game Recap

The Knicks ended their seven-game home losing streak in a big way Friday night, blowing out the Magic 121-83. The victory gives the Knicks their first winning streak of the season and scored a season high amount of points for the second consecutive night. The last two victories have both been by 30+ points, the first time the Knicks have consecutive victories by that much since 1997 when they beat the Boston Celtics by 32 and the Phoenix Suns by 30 (courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau). The victory tonight extended the Knicks winning streak over the Magic to seven games as the Knicks looked locked in right now. People will say the poor opponents are the reason but when you struggled as much as the Knicks were winning games against anyone is a positive.

Player of the Game: Carmelo Anthony

Joe Camporeale/USA TODAY Sports

For the second consecutive night Anthony took a back seat to his teammates on the offensive end and it resulted in a huge Knicks win. Anthony took only 10 shots in the game but still was able to scored 20 points in only 30 minutes on the court. He also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, giving him 10 double-doubles on the season; the 10 double-doubles match the same amount Anthony had all of last season. Tonight he also added four more assists and three steals as Anthony has set the tone extremely well for the Knicks the past two nights. He hit the open man when the Magic would double team him on defense and he was outstanding once again on the glass with the Knicks still without Tyson Chandler. Anthony is more than capable of doing this night in and night out as he is still more than capable of scoring 30 or 40 points in a game and carrying this team offensively if needed.

-Positives

The Knicks ball movement for the second straight game was outstanding, resulting in droves of three pointers. On the night the Knicks knocked 17-34 three point attempts and 44-83 overall from the field, good for 53 percent. J.R. Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr. led the way on the three point attack as each knocked down five in the game. Hardaway Jr. has been especially hot from down town, making 12 of 21 three pointers over the last three games. Of the 44 made baskets, the Knicks assisted on 25 of them, led by six from Pablo Prigioni. The efficiency on the offensive end was aided as well by the minimum amount of turnovers the Knicks had, turning the ball over only 10 times in the game.

The Knicks bench again played well tonight as they were the ones who actually propelled the Knicks into the lead earlier in the game. Three separate players, Smith, Hardaway Jr. and Metta World Peace scored in double-figures off the bench. As a group the reserves scored 57 points as they provided the starters with another night they were able to rest for most of the second half. The Knicks had seven total players score in double-figures tonight, as Kenyon Martin was the only starter to not score at least 10 points.

The defense to start the game for the Knicks was lackluster to put it nicely. The Magic started the game 7-10 from the field and seven of eight from the three point line; they scored 54 points in the first half to keep the game close. But the Knicks were able to exorcise their third quarter demons once again and much like in the Nets game Thursday they broke the game open in the third quarter. The Knicks played stifling defense in the second half as the young Magic team started to look defeated en route to a 29 point half an end result of a 38 point loss.

There were really no negatives to the game tonight as the Knicks dominated once again on both ends of the court. The only real negative thing to come out at the end was Andrea Bargnani shooting only 6-16 from the field, but he made up for it by grabbing eight rebounds. The Knicks also had a tough time slowing down Arron Afflalo at times, who is having a career season thus far. He poured in another 20 points tonight on 8-15 shooting from the field but was unable to do much else as he had only one rebound and three assists. Instead we will use the spot usually reserved for negatives to showcase what the Knicks have coming up in the future. If the offense is really starting to come together like it looks like it is things could really start looking up for the Knicks. They have knocked down 13 or more three pointers now in three consecutive games and the schedule really lightens up in the near future. The next nine games the Knicks play will be against teams at or below .500 entering play Friday night; if the Knicks are going to get back into the race in the Eastern Conference this would be the perfect time to start heading into a Christmas Day showdown with the Oklahoma City Thunder.