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

Mets Sign Granderson, Opens Up Possibilities

ESPN Inc.

Written by Joseph Thompson (@JThomp9)

Earlier today the New York Mets and Curtis Granderson agreed to a four-year $60 million contract. This is huge for the Mets, as it is their first big free agent since the Jason Bay massacre. With Chris Young signed just a few weeks ago, a logjam is beginning to form in the outfield. With Eric Young and Juan Lagares, two players who played almost everyday last season still on the roster, that leaves one spot for two players. The Mets figure Eric Young will also get some time at second base this season as they try to mold him into the super-sub player. Most importantly, this signing gives the Mets some options and more assets in moving forward in trying to field a better team. So what can the Mets do moving forward?

Midseason Bold Predictions Recap

Written by Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Earlier in the week I looked back at an article from the midway point of the MLB season and compared the award winners chosen then to the people who actually received the awards. This time I’ll take another article from the summer, my bold predictions from the All-Star break for the second half of the season and compare it to how the season actually ended. They aren’t called bold predictions for nothing as the end results of these are a little more off than the predictions made for the MLB Regular Season Awards.

Alex Rodriguez will hit double-digit homeruns and the New York Yankees will still miss the playoffs, finishing last in the AL East.

Barton Silverman/New York Times

There are two definitive results that happened here; the Yankees did indeed miss the playoffs but they did not finish in last place. The Rodriguez double-digit homeruns is up for debate. If you include his minor league stats he hit 10 on the season but if you count only his time in the majors he knocked only seven out of the park. The Yankees turned it around a little bit once they started getting a little healthier but they just did not have the talent that teams ahead of them like the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Indians, the two teams who won the AL Wild Card spots. The winter will be an important one for the Yankees as they have a lot of holes to fill on the team including finding a player capable of replacing Derek Jeter and Rodriguez if they are unable to stay in the lineup because of injuries or suspension. For this bold prediction I will split it down the middle and call it half right.

Miguel Cabrera will win a second consecutive Triple Crown after MLB went the previous 45 seasons before last without one.

W2W4: Orlando Magic vs. New York Knicks

Brad Penner/USA Today Sports

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Friday, December 6^th, 2013

Orlando Magic vs. New York Knicks

Pre-Game News and Notes

The Knicks were able to snap their nine-game losing streak last night against the poor Brooklyn Nets in blowout fashion. Tonight they will look to build their first winning streak of the season and carry some momentum from last night into tonight’s contest against the Orlando Magic at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks had their best game of the season against the Nets and dominated in every facet of the game and will look to continue their success against the Magic, a team they swept in four games in the regular season last year. Here are some things to keep an eye on in tonight’s game against the 6-12 Magic as the Knicks will face off with talented rookie Victor Oladipo for the first time.

-Player Updates

Knicks Steamroll Nets to Snap 9-Game Losing Streak

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

It was not the matchup people had expected coming into the season as the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets faced off for the first time this season with less than stellar records. The Knicks came in on a nine-game losing streak and a 3-13 record, while the Nets were not much better at 5-13. It had the makings of an ugly game as both teams are dealing with injuries to important players; Tyson Chandler for the Knicks, Paul Pierce and Deron Williams for the Nets. The head coaches were also coming under fire as Mike Woodson seemed to be on the hottest of seats of any NBA coach and Jason Kidd was making headlines for demoting his top assistant Lawrence Frank earlier in the week. An ugly game is exactly what it turned into, at least for one of the teams.

The Knicks came out and played by far their best game of the season, blowing the Nets out 113-83 at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, which has become their home away from home. The Knicks fans far outnumbered the Nets fans as multiple Knicks chants were heard throughout the night as the Knicks led wire-to-wire.

Jim McIsaac

The Knicks came out of the gate on fire, going ahead by as many as 15 in the first quarter as they shot an otherworldly 71 percent in the quarter. The most shocking part of the building of the lead was how little of it was done by the Knicks leading scorer Carmelo Anthony. Too often this season the Knicks have relied on Anthony to carry them to victory but tonight the rest of the players stepped up as Anthony had two assists and a rebound before even attempting his first shot of the game with 4:31 remaining in the first quarter. The leading man for the Knicks in the first quarter instead was Andrea Bargnani, who scored seven of his 16 points in the opening quarter of the game. Anthony finished with a highly efficient night on the offensive end, scoring a team high 19 points on eight of 12 from the field to go along a team leading 10 rebounds and six assists. All of this game in a limited night of work for Anthony, who like many of the Knicks regulars got to sit the whole fourth quarter with the game comfortably in hand.

Yankees Sign Jacoby Ellsbury to Monster Deal

nydailynews.com

By Nick Ziegler 

December 4th, 2013

The New York Yankees have made their second big splash of an off-season that originally was thought to be one of trying to cut payroll, but has been the complete opposite so far. On Tuesday night they signed now former Red Sox Center Fielder Jacoby Ellsbury. After handing a five-year 85 million dollar contract to Catcher Brian McCann, the Yankees have now added a seven-year 153 million dollar contract for Ellsbury to their payroll.

This contract for the Yankees is going to be taking a lot of heat, and deservingly so. Although Jacoby Ellsbury is a very good player he does have trouble staying on the field. Another scary part of the contract for the Yankees is the seven years for a 30 year old player that relies most of his game on his legs, as he is coming off a 52 stolen base season. In his 2012 contract season, Ellsbury batted .298 with 172 hits, 92 runs scored, 31 doubles, eight triples, nine homeruns, 53 RBIs, and the aforementioned 52 stolen bases in 134 games. Power wise Ellsbury had one monster year in 2011, hitting 32 homeruns that season, but excluding that year he only has 33 career homeruns. It will be something to watch in 2014 if Ellsbury can find the short porch a few times.

Is Iman Shumpert's Time as a Knick Nearing an End?

Getty Images

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

This season has been a disastrous one for the New York Knicks through 16 games and turning it around does not look to be on the horizon. One person who has been under fire constantly is third-year guard/small forward Iman Shumpert. Shumpert has been in the middle of trade rumors for the better part of the season thus far, even having at least one trade with the Denver Nuggets for Kenneth Faried in exchange for Shumpert being turned down. This all has began to weigh on Shumpert on the court it would seem but even through all the negativity surrounding him he has found a way to bring it on the court night in and night out. But Sunday he may have finally punched his ticket out of here.

The Knicks were playing quiet well Sunday through the first half and caught quite a break with budding New Orleans Pelican superstar Anthony Davis suffering a displaced fracture in his left hand. Things looked to be adding up to a Knicks victory but Knick killer Ryan Anderson was forced into more playing time and he did what he does best; knock down three pointers and send Knicks fans home upset. Anderson went off on the Knicks, something that has become common for him, knocking down seven three pointers and grabbing six rebounds. The only person who seemed to care that the Knicks were crumbling again in the third quarter and letting an opponent go off on them was Shumpert, who during a timeout went off on Carmelo Anthony for playing lackadaisical defense on Anderson, resulting in him knocking down a three pointer and Shumpert picking up a foul attempting to cover up for him. Check out the video below of what happened during that Knicks timeout: