Post Game Recap
The Knicks once again dug themselves a deep hole they were
unable to climb out of, losing in Toronto
to the Raptors ___. The Knicks were down by more than 20 points in the second
half but were able to cut it to six in the later stages of the fourth quarter.
They were unable to get all the way back after a flagrant-1 was called on
Tour’e Murry. Kyle Lowry knocked down both free throws and then hit a
three-pointer to put the game away for the Raptors. It was too little too late
for the Knicks as it once again took them getting down by a large margin before
they were able to get up and compete. With the loss the Knicks drop the
home-and-home with the Raptors and fall five games behind in the Atlantic
Division. The Knicks will have a long time off to stew on this loss as the
Knicks do not play until Thursday night in San Antonio
against the Spurs as the Knicks embark on the Texas Threesome road trip.
Player of the Game: Amar’e Stoudemire
Without Carmelo Anthony playing the Knicks needed someone to
step up offensively and Stoudemire answered the bell. Stoudemire gave the
Knicks some good minutes off the bench, getting 30 of them on the second half
of the back-to-back. STAT shot 9-12 from the field (5-6 FT) for 23 points. Stoudemire
battled in the paint as well, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking two shots. With
consistent minutes Stoudemire has looked good because he is back in rhythm.
When he sits certain games it throws him out of sync. At this point with the
Knicks shorthanded they might as well run Stoudemire out there as much as he
can says he can handle and hope he continues giving efforts like he did
tonight.
-Positives
Tour’e Murry had the one miscue late in the fourth quarter
but he was a big reason the Knicks were even within striking distance. Murry
had his best game as a pro in his 14th career game. He shot 5-11
from the field and scored 11 points. He also handed out six assists and
garnered three steals. He gave the Knicks some energy and effort that does not
always come from some players, finishing the game with the highest +/- ratio on
the team with +4. He earned himself some extra run in the coming games as a guy
that will jumpstart the Knicks when he is on the court alongside fellow rookie
Tim Hardaway Jr.
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| Tom Szczerbowski/USA TODAY Sports |
Without Anthony the Knicks obviously struggle a little more
to score but tonight they did well putting the ball in the basket. Other
players stepped up some as Stoudemire led the way with 23 and five other Knicks
scored in double-figures as well; Tyson Chandler scored a season-high 16, JR
Smith scored 13, Andrea Bargnani and Hardaway Jr. scored 12 each and Murry
added his 11. Overall the Knicks shot 39-80 from the field, 7-21 from three
point land and 15-20 from the foul line.
Iman Shumpert has played poorly in recent games but tonight
he gave one of the stat stuffing games Knicks fans had been accustomed to
seeing. He went only 2-5 from the field but he added a team high eight rebounds
and two assists. He also added a steal and block and was only one of three
players to finish the game with a positive +/- ratio in a Knicks uniform along
with Stoudemire and Murry.
Mike Woodson is a favorite of mine in the negatives section
but tonight he found some players who will give him energy on the court in Kenyon Martin, Murry, Stoudemire and Hardaway Jr. He still gave JR Smith a little more freedom
than you would like but he did stick to the players who were giving the Knicks
a chance tonight and it was a refreshing thing to see from a team that has
lacked passion seemingly all season.
-Negatives
It is like beating a dead horse but as long as it keeps
happening it will continue ending up in this section. The Knicks perimeter
defense is horrendous and there are no signs of it ever getting stronger.
Tonight Kyle Lowry stepped up the aggressiveness offensively. He iced the game
with the five-point swing mentioned in the lead but was torching the Knicks
before then as well. Tonight Lowry shot 10-17 from the field (4-7 3pt, 8-10 FT)
for a game high 32 points. He also added 11 assists, just showing off at that
point what could have been for the Knicks had James Dolan not stepped in and
vetoed the trade.
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| AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young |
Lowry was not the only perimeter player to hurt the Knicks
tonight as he had help from his fellow starting perimeter players. DeMar
DeRozan did not score as efficiently as last night but he did end the night
with 20 points again. Who really hurt the Knicks was Terrence Ross, who found
his spot in the corner and knocked down three pointer after three pointer. On
the night Ross knocked down 7-11 from deep en route to 23 points. He added four
rebounds, one assist and two steals as well. For the night the Raptors, who
average only seven three point makes per game, knocked down 15-32 three point
attempts.
The Knicks were out rebounded once again and there was no
bigger omission from the Knicks rebounding stats than Chandler .
Chandler managed to grab only two
defensive rebounds in the game, a sign of how much a mess the Knicks defense
really is. Having to help out defenders as often as he does and the annoyance
of the Knicks to switch every pick Chandler
is out of position to rebound and closer to the three-point line than the
basket. This enables the other teams bigs to grab easy offensive rebounds as the
Raptors did tonight, grabbing 13 for the night. Bargnani only grabbed four as
the Knicks “big lineup” plays smaller than their small lineup.
Bargnani was seen holding an ice pack late in the game but
once again he was a no-show down the stretch. Bargnani shows aggressiveness and
asserts himself early in the game but as the game goes on he starts being seen
less and less. The Knicks need him to stay aggressive, especially with Anthony
sidelined. With Bargnani not being aggressive players further and further down
the pecking order are expected to score, which makes for the Knicks struggling
more than they should be. Bargnani wasn’t the only starter to essentially get
benched in crunch time as Beno Udrih was all of his minutes in the fourth
quarter to Murry.
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