Post Game Recap
Grass is green, the sky is blue and the Knicks suffered yet
another disappointing loss. Tonight the Knicks suffered the tough loss at the
hands of the Mavericks by the score of 110-108 by the way of Dirk Nowitzki
buzzer beater. The Knicks fought back and came up short like they have so many
times this season, wasting yet another outstanding performance from their
leading man Carmelo Anthony. As the losses continue to pile up, the reality is
beginning to set in that the playoffs will be out of reach. With the loss
tonight the Knicks record drops to 21-36 and six games out of eighth place in
the Eastern Conference.
Player of the Game: Carmelo Anthony
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| EPA/Jason Szenes Corbis OUT |
For a player who has a reputation of being a gunner and
nothing else, Anthony has disproved that all season. He has continued to put up
the monster scoring numbers but he is the only Knick player you can honestly
say has shown up night in and night out during this forgettable season. Tonight
Anthony did it again, pouring in 44 points on 14-29 from the field (7-12 3pt,
9-9 FT) as he was on fire all night. He kept the Knicks in the game single handedly
multiple times throughout the night as the offensive side of the ball looked to
be the only place anyone looked interested in playing. Anthony added nine
rebounds, four assists and one block to round out his stat line for the night.
It has been nice watching Anthony throughout the season as he has proven time
and time again he is one of the best players in the NBA and with every passing
loss not only do the Knicks playoff hopes diminish the likelihood of Anthony
staying seems to go with them.
-Positives
The Knicks shooting percentages were through the roof all
night. Overall they shot 52.6 percent from the field and an impressive 14-33
from the three point line, good for 42.4 percent. They assisted on 23 of their
40 made baskets as the Knicks offense clicked whenever they were able to hold
onto the ball.
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| Stan Hondastan Honda/AFP/Getty Images |
The Knicks were able to hold Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks
leading scorer, relatively in check. Nowitzki hurt them in the end with a
buzzer beater to win the game but outside of that he struggled for the most
part. Nowitzki didn’t score for the previous 18 minutes before the buzzer beater
and ended with only 15 points on the night, below the 21.8 he is averaging on
the season. Nowitzki shot 6-13 from the field overall, struggling with his jump
shot as he missed all three of his three point attempts.
Cole Aldrich has seen as little playing time as anyone on
the Knicks this season but tonight he was pressed into duty with Tyson Chandler,
Amar’e Stoudemire and Jeremy Tyler all getting into foul trouble. Aldrich
responded well with his eight minutes, as the finished with a +12, grabbing three
rebounds and making his only shot attempt. Aldrich responded as well as you
could have hoped with what was asked of him out of nowhere tonight.
-Negatives
Stoudemire drew the start tonight alongside Anthony and Chandler
and it was not pretty. The three are a poor mix together as Stoudemire and Chandler
looked lost on multiple occasions on both ends of the court. Chandler
and Stoudemire get in each other’s way more than help each other because they
are both comfortable in the same areas on the court. Neither player put up bad
stats, as Stoudemire finished with nine points, two rebounds and one block
while Chandler had 12 points, 12
rebounds, one steal and two blocks. The problem was the Knicks just weren’t
very good when either player was on the court; Stoudemire finished -8 and Chandler
finished -14.
The Knicks offense was not running as smoothly as it could
have because of the pressure the Mavericks put on them. The Mavericks force
15.3 turnovers per game, sixth best on the NBA and they showed why tonight. The
Knicks finished with 21 team turnovers on the night, resulting in 25 points for
the Mavericks. On the other hand the Knicks were only able to force 10
Mavericks turnovers and scored 17 points off of them.
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| Stan Hondastan Honda/AFP/Getty Images |
At this point in his career Vince Carter knows as well as
anyone he is not the high flyer he once was. He is more than content in his
role as a secondary player that can still knock down a jump shot. Someone
forget to pass the memo along to the Knicks, who left Carter open throughout
the night. Carter went off, scoring a season-high 23 points on 8-17 shooting,
making 7-12 from behind the arc.
The Knicks didn’t defend the three-point line or anywhere
while the Mavericks played offense for that matter. The Mavericks shot 47.7
percent on the night and 41.7 from the three point line. The Knicks were unable
to get a stop whenever they needed it most, as the Mavericks were able to get a
basket whenever they needed. The Knicks also struggled to stop Monta Ellis and
Jose Calderon, as they scored 22 and 20 points respectively, knocking down 7-14
combined from the three point line.
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