By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)
Wednesday, November 13th,
2013
New York Knicks vs. Atlanta Hawks
Post Game Recap
The Knicks talked of a turnaround
heading into Atlanta and that is what they delivered. Must win games in
November are not something people take seriously but this was something of a
game the Knicks needed to win. They have a daunting matchup with the Houston
Rockets tomorrow night on the second night of the back-to-back and James Dolan opened
his mouth once again promising the Knicks would win tonight. They did not put
together a full four quarters but they had a dominating opening and final
quarter to control the game. Overall it was a solid, not outstanding, team
effort put forth by the Knicks tonight as they were able to keep Dolan’s
promise and take a victory back to Madison Square Garden with them for tomorrow
night’s matchup against the Houston Rockets at 8 P.M. ET on TNT.
Player of the Game: Iman Shumpert
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| Daniel Shirey/USA Today Sports |
Shumpert has been part of a lot of trade
rumors in his short career and they became very loud this week as the Knicks
and Nuggets were supposedly engaged in trade talks revolving around a Shumpert
for Kenneth Faried sway. The Nuggets rejected and Shumpert is still a Knick,
which is a good thing and tonight’s final line epitomizes it. Shumpert had a
tough shooting night, going two of eight from the field but he did not let that
negatively affect his game in any way. He handed out a career high nine assists
tonight, grabbed six rebounds and played his usual menacing and ferocious
defense with four steals. Shumpert had a momentum swinging play in the fourth
quarter as well, stealing an inbounds pass and hitting the slashing Raymond
Felton for a layup. Shumpert is the exact type of glue guy the Knicks need as
he doesn’t need the ball in his hands to impact the game and is more than
willing to let the rest of his game do the talking.
-Positives
