By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)
Friday, February 28th, 2014
Golden State Warriors vs. New York Knicks
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| ESPN.go.Com |
Pre-Game News and Notes
The Knicks will look to bounce back from an ugly
performance against the two-time defending champion Miami Heat Friday night
against the Warriors at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks are free-falling in
the standings and cannot afford any lackluster performances like they have been
putting forth recently. Things will not get any easier for the Knicks tonight
as the Warriors are looking to avenge some poor play of their own, getting blown
out by the Chicago Bulls Wednesday 103-83. Here are some things to look for in
the game tonight.
-Player News and Notes
Raymond Felton is expected to take the court once
again even after his arrest earlier in the week. Felton did not use the
distraction as an excuse for his poor play Thursday night against the Heat but
it is hard to blame him if that is on his mind. Shannon Brown and Earl Clark
both played last night, with Brown getting into the game early and looking like
he will be part of the Knicks rotation going forward. Mike Woodson called Clark
a defensive-minded player when he was signed but he did not see the court until
garbage time.
For the Warriors, David Lee will be taking the court
against his former team. Lee had missed games because of illness recently, but
was able to take the court Wednesday against the Bulls and should be good to go
tonight against the Knicks.
-Matchup of the Game: Stephen Curry vs. Knicks
Backcourt
Curry went off the last time he visited Madison
Square Garden, scoring his career high almost a year ago to the day. The Knicks
will be hard pressed to slow down Curry on a regular night with how poor their
defense has been throughout the season, especially against opposing guards. Tonight
Curry will have extra incentive to play well after having his worst game of the
season Wednesday. The Knicks are catching Curry at the worst time; they aren’t playing
well and he is looking to get back on track. Raymond Felton will probably start
the game against Curry, but it would be smart for Woodson to go to the Toure’
Murry, the superior defender or even a longer player such as Shannon Brown if
it starts getting too ugly too early.
-Defend the Perimeter
In addition to Curry the Warriors future another
outstanding perimeter player in Klay Thompson. The tandem makes up the best
shooting backcourt currently in the NBA and is in the argument for best of
all-time according to some people. Without Iman Shumpert the Knicks are sorely
lacking perimeter defenders capable of slowing down the explosive twosome; it
will take a concerted team effort to slow them down tonight. In addition to
Felton and Pablo Prigioni, J.R. Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr. will have their chances
to slow them down. No matter how undeserving of the opportunity those players
are they will have to do it as Woodson does not have many other options to turn
to.
-Will Melo Get Some Help?
Carmelo Anthony has been on a scoring tear for the
Knicks recently and they are still losing games. Against the lower tier teams
big scoring nights from Anthony could propel the Knicks to victory but not
against tougher competition. In his last five games Anthony is averaging 38.8
points per game on 53.4 percent shooting from the field. He has also averaged
7.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 blocks and 0.8 steals per game over the same
span, doing everything he can to get the Knicks a victory.
For the Knicks to pull the upset tonight at MSG they
will need someone to step up next to Anthony. Last night it was Tyson Chandler,
but the rest of the team played so poorly offensively that it didn’t matter in
the end. Having Smith or Hardaway Jr. knock down some perimeter shots tonight
would go a long way in what has the makings to be a track meet. Any positives
players like Brown, Clark or Jeremy Tyler, who was surprisingly taken out of
the rotation against the Heat, can deliver tonight would help a lot as the
Knicks just need something positive to build off of.
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