Knicks Fall to Thunder Behind Near Triple-Double for Durant

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Sunday, February 9^th, 2014

New York Knicks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

Post Game Recap

The Knicks were outmatched in every facet of the game Sunday afternoon as the Thunder defeated them handedly 112-100. The Knicks had a strong first half but closed poorly and the poor play carried over into the second half when the Thunder took control of the game. A game that was billed as a battle between two of the top scorers in the NBA fell short of expectations and judging from the score you know which team’s big scorer it was. The Knicks will look to finish on a high note heading into the All-Star game Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings at Madison Square Garden.

Player of the Game: Jeremy Tyler

Tyler saw his minutes cut from Friday night’s game but he still gave the Knicks some positive and productive play. Tyler saw only 11 minutes on the court but he made the most of them, scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds. He also recorded one block, as his activity on the defensive end is a nice thing to see. With how productive he has been in limited minutes it would be a good idea for the Knicks to start expanding his playing time and see what he could do with more time on the court. Right now he is one of the few bright spots in a dark season.

-Positives

W2W4: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Brooklyn Nets

fanside.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

January 31^st, 2014

W2W4: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets will be hosting the red hot Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night at the Barclays Center, as New York continues their great week of sports leading up to the Superbowl on Sunday night. The Nets are coming off of just their second loss of 2014 to the Raptors on Tuesday night, and are now three games behind the Raptors in the Atlantic Division.

-MVP=KD?

The main goal for the Nets on Friday night will be trying to slow down Thunder Forward Kevin Durant, who is playing some of the best basketball in his career over the past few weeks. In the past 12 games Durant is averaging 38 points per game, while shooting over 50% from the field, so for the Nets it will have to be a group effort on the defensive end to try and slow him down. In the beginning of the month in the Nets victory over the Thunder, they held Durant to just 24 points and he turned the ball over five times. If the Nets can replicate the way they played on January 2^nd, they will be in good shape for a win on Friday.

Joe Johnson Buzzer-Beater gets Nets victory over Thunder

nydailynews.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

January 2^nd, 2014

Brooklyn Nets vs Oklahoma City Thunder Post Game Recap

Final Score: Nets 95 Thunder 93

The Brooklyn Nets were able to pull off their best win of the season thus far on Thursday night in Oklahoma City with a comeback 95-93 victory over Kevin Durant and the Thunder. The win moves the Nets to 11-21 on the season, and are five games behind the Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic Division.

Positives:

- Nets Point Guard Deron Williams had a fantastic game in the Nets best win of the season, as he really carried the Nets for most of the game. Williams finished with a game-high and season-high 29 points on 10 for 17 shooting. Williams really was feeling it from downtown, as he had a season-high six three-pointers on nine attempts, which included a buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter. If Deron Williams can play close to the way he did on Thursday night against the Thunder the Nets can certainly make a run in what is a wide open Atlantic Division even without Lopez.

- With no Russell Westbrook the Nets did a pretty good job keeping Durant's scoring to a manageable number, as he was held to 24 points. Durant was however very efficient shooting the ball going eight for 13 from the field, but he did have five turnovers, and a -6 +/- on the court. Overall Jason Kidd has to be happy with how his team did against the second best player in the NBA.

- Brooklyn saw some good production off the bench from two of their wing players, as Andrei Kirilenko and Alan Anderson lead the way for the Nets bench. Kirilenko in his second game back from the injury played 15 minutes, which was a little more than expected, but he looked good scoring nine points on three for three shooting, and three for four from the foul line. Anderson was the Nets leading bench scorer with 13 points on three for six shooting, and he also got to the free throw line a lot going seven for nine at the line.

- Joe Johnson was having a very quiet game up until the fourth quarter when like last season he was called upon to deliver a clutch shot with the game tied at 93. Johnson who had ice in his veins so many times last year did it again tonight with the buzzer-beater to shock the heavily favored Thunder as time expired. Johnson finished the game scoring only nine points on four for 11 shooting, and was one for six from three-point range.

Negatives:

- The only negative for the Nets in their best win of the season was the disastrous second quarter, which was the reason for the great come from behind win. Brooklyn was more than doubled in the quarter, as the Thunder scored 33 points to the Nets 15. In the quarter the Nets only had three field goals, as the lopsided quarter could have been even worse for Brooklyn. They however outscore the Thunder in every other quarter, but when a team has a quarter like the Nets did in the second it makes it tough to win, and is certainly a thing the Nets wont want to see moving forward.

Next up for the Nets will be a trip back home for a very winnable game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday January 4^th.

W2W4: New York Knicks vs. Charlotte Bobcats

Anthony Gruppuso/ USA TODAY Sports

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Monday, April 15^th, 2013

Pre-Game News and Notes

New York Knicks vs. Charlotte Bobcats

Coming off a big win in clinching the second seed in the Eastern Conference yesterday afternoon against the Pacers, the Knicks will get right back at it tonight against the lowly Bobcats and keep building on their momentum into the playoffs.  Tonight’s game could be a hard one to watch as many of the Knicks rotation players are expected to sit out as the Knicks can no longer accomplish anything in the regular season; they just hope to get through this game and Wednesday against the Hawks without any more injuries occurring.  Here are some things to watch for in the game tonight:

-Who Is Playing?

NBA Power Rankings: Week 23

Getty Imgaes

The NBA did not have to wait long for a team to get on another tear after the Nuggets and Heat both lost their winning streaks in the same week as the Knicks have picked up the slack and moved up the rankings yet again with an NBA high 12 game winning streak.  The Eastern Conference playoffs are set as to who will be in, but the Western Conference is a totally different story.  There are still spots up for grabs, as the race for the eighth seed in the Western Conference looks like it will come down to the last days of the season and seeding is still being worked out as well.  Were coming down the stretch run of the NBA season and it will be exciting to watch.

1.) Miami Heat (60-16) – Miami is sitting pretty right now; they are still dominating teams while their stars get healthy.  While the Knicks and Pacers still battle for second in the East and the West big dogs struggle with injuries, the Heat are gearing up and resting their players for another championship run.

2.) San Antonio Spurs (57-20) – It will be worthwhile to watch if Gregg Popovich can make some magic again in San Antonio.  The Spurs will need it with Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker ailing recently.  Tim Duncan cannot carry the team at his advanced age like it is 2003 can he?

3.) New York Knicks (50-26) – The longest current winning streak in the NBA resides at Madison Square Garden as the Knicks went into Oklahoma City Sunday afternoon and handled business.  Things could not be going better for the Knicks, who watch Carmelo Anthony put on a historic performance this past week and Mike Woodson has led the Knicks to the fourth most wins in the NBA since he took over as head coach, trailing only the Heat, Spurs and Thunder.

4.) Oklahoma City Thunder (56-21) – Things cannot be lining up any better for the Thunder currently heading into the end of the season, as the Spurs, Nuggets and Grizzlies all deal with injuries and the Clippers just cannot seem to get everything clicking.  The Thunder have everyone healthy, but could the loss Sunday to the Knicks be a precursor of them not clicking as well as they need to be?

5.) Denver Nuggets (53-24) – The Nuggets were going to struggle to make too much noise in the playoffs without home court but the injuries are mounting against them making it an either harder mountain to climb.  Losing Danilo Gallinari for the season and Ty Lawson hobbled it will be tough for them to go anywhere, even with home court.

Knicks Top Thunder as Win Streak Reaches 12

AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Sunday, April 7^th, 2013

Post Game Recap

Final Score: New York Knicks: 125 Oklahoma City Thunder: 120

The Knicks were doubted by many people heading in Oklahoma City today but left the arena by putting the rest of the Eastern Conference and NBA on alert; this is a team that means business.  The game was billed as Carmelo Anthony vs. Kevin Durant but it turned out to be much more than that as the Knicks needed a total team effort to drop the Thunder today.  The win today brings the Knicks to 50 on the season, the first time they have reached that plateau since the 1999-2000 season, and puts their magic number for the Atlantic Division at one.  The Knicks will look to extend their win streak and lockup the division title Tuesday against the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden.

-Positive

Huge Second Half Pushes Knicks Past Bucks

AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Friday, April 5^th, 2013

Post Game Recap

Final Score: Milwaukee Bucks: 83 New York Knicks: 101

The Knicks were honoring the 40^th anniversary of the 1972-1973 championship winning team and the current Knicks put on an amazing performance in the third quarter to push them past the Bucks tonight at Madison Square Garden.  The win pushed the Knicks NBA high winning streak to 11 games, the longest since the 1993-1994 team that made a run to the NBA finals.  The Knicks magic number to clinch the Atlantic Division is now sitting at two, as the Nets sit six games behind the Knicks with seven to play. They also currently hold a 1 ½ game lead over the Pacers for the coveted second seed in the Eastern Conference.  The Knicks will now have a day off before heading into Oklahoma City Sunday night and put their 11-game winning streak on the line. 

  

-Positives

• The third quarter for the Knicks tonight was utterly dominating and they put away the Bucks during this time.  After a lackluster first half in which the Knicks struggled and scored only 36 points and trailed the Bucks by nine, they came out with a different mindset and approach in the third quarter after watching the ceremony for the 1972-1973 championship team.  The Knicks got on track from deep, knocking down eight three points in the third after making only one of their 12 attempts in the first half.  This overwhelmed the Bucks, who went into halftime with a nine point lead to heading into the fourth quarter down 12, punctuated with a heave at the third quarter buzzer by Jason Kidd that found the bottom of the net.

• Carmelo Anthony went off yet again for the Knicks, becoming the first player since his idol Bernard King in 1984-1985 to score 40+ points in three consecutive games.  Tonight he ended the night with 41, going 17 of 28 from the field, three of seven from the three point line and a perfect four of four from the charity stripe.  Anthony put on a show in the third quarter, going seven of nine from the field and two of three from deep for 18 points as the Knicks pulled away from the Bucks. Anthony has scored an unprecedented 131 points in his last three games and is doing it efficiently, shooting 64.2 percent and going 58 out of 81 from the field.  In tonight’s game another impressive stat for Anthony was the 14 rebounds, a game high.  With the Knicks lacking any big men available outside of Tyson Chandler, Anthony made sure he helped on the glass and put on a dominant performance.

• J.R. Smith got back on his efficiency swing tonight, playing sidekick to Anthony and scoring 30 points in the game.  Smith went 11 of 22 from the field, including a very good five of 11 from the three point line and three of four from the charity stripe.  Smith also had a big third quarter to go along with Anthony, scoring 12 points of his own coming out of halftime.  Smith was monkey see, monkey do with Anthony in the scoring department but also in the rebounding one as well, as Smith grabbed 10 rebounds of his own to lend a helping hand to the shorthanded Knicks frontcourt.

• It was an impressive night for the Knicks on the glass, who have been a lower echelon rebounding team all season.  Tonight they outrebounded the Bucks 50-40, even more impressive by the fact that the Knicks were without Kenyon Martin tonight and had Chandler as the only big man available.  The strong performances on the glass by Anthony and Smith really helped the short-handed Knicks tonight who put on a dominant performance in the second half yet again en route to another victory.

• The effort on the boards combined with the effort on the defensive end is what kept the Knicks in the game before the offense came around in the second half.  On the night the Knicks held the Bucks to 38.2 percent shooting on 29 of 76 from the field.  The Knicks made it difficult on the Bucks all night, as they held them to 21 points or less in every quarter but the second.  The Knicks outscored the Bucks 32-26 in the paint also, another telling stat into just how difficult the Knicks made it on the Bucks to score tonight.

-Negatives

• In such a dominant performance there were not many things that the Knicks did poorly tonight.  The only negatives that stick out is their offensive performance in the first half, as the Knicks struggled with their shot and could not mount any type of offensive attack.  They have to avoid that kind of start come playoff time because there are not many teams they will be able to keep up with scoring only 36 points in a half.  One reason for the halftime deficit was the inability to slow the Bucks down from the perimeter, as Brandon Jennings and J.J. Redick lit the Knicks up from the perimeter, combining for nine of 17 from the three point line.  The Bucks shot an impressive 12 of 30 from the three point line on the night, the only negative defensively for the Knicks on the night.

NBA Power Rankings: Week 22

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

The Heat and Nuggets both had their long win streaks snapped last week, opening up the door for another team to take over the NBA lead for wins in a row.  That team is also making their reappearance in the top five this week for the first time in a while.  Things are starting to shape up in the rankings and playoff picture as there is really only one spot still up for grabs; eighth place in the Western Conference.

1.) Miami Heat (58-15) – Chicago ended their 27-game winning streak last week, but the Heat were not down long as they destroyed the Hornets and then beat the Spurs without Lebron James and Dwayne Wade thanks to a Chris Bosh game winning three-pointer.  Erik Spoelstra is sitting pretty right now knowing he can pick and choose some places to rest his players if they have enough sans-James and Wade to still beat the Spurs.

2.) San Antonio Spurs (55-18) – After being relatively scathe free of injury prior to Tony Parker going down, the injury bug has come back to the Spurs, this time on Manu Ginobili.  Gregg Popovich thinks Ginobili could be out for weeks, which would be a real damper on the Spurs playoff hopes.

3.) Oklahoma City Thunder (54-20) – The Thunder have a golden opportunity to steal the top seed and home court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs from the Spurs with the Ginobili news.  It will be another thing to get them up after a loss to the Timberwolves this past week.

4.) Denver Nuggets (50-24) – The Ty Lawson injury is a big blow to the Nuggets, as like any team without their starting point guard just isn’t the same.  Denver will be dangerous in the playoffs if they are able to hold onto home court advantage and will be heavy favorites to move on as long as they do.

5.) New York Knicks (46-26) – Currently riding the longest win streak in the NBA at eight games, the Knicks are rolling again, looking like they did earlier in the season when they started 18-5.  Pablo Prigioni and J.R. Smith have been the catalysts in the Knicks resurgence, as the 35-year old rookie is combining to help Smith play the best basketball of his career.

NBA Power Rankings: Week 21

www.chacha.com

We are all currently witnessing NBA history as the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets are both sporting winning streak of at least 15 games.  That will be something to keep an eye on as the Heat look to take over the longest winning streak in NBA history and the Nuggets try and move up the Western Conference and get home court in the playoffs.  The New York basketball scene is starting to heat up as well as the Knicks and Nets are playing for the Atlantic Division title. 

1.) Miami Heat (55-14) – 26 wins in a row. That is all you need to know.  Sure a large amount of them are against lottery teams but the Heat doesn’t make the schedule.  They are handling business and if they beat the Magic, Bulls and Hornets they will have a matchup with the Spurs for win number 30 on Easter Sunday.

2.) San Antonio Spurs (53-17) – The Spurs continue to roll along and will be getting a boost with the return of Tony Parker; not that they missed him too much as they went 6-2 without their leading scorer and assist man. 

3.) Denver Nuggets (49-22) – The Nuggets are on an impressive winning streak of their own, winning their last 15 games in a row and six in a row on the road.  Their winning streak is not getting as much attention as the Heat but is something worth keeping an eye on.

4.) Oklahoma City Thunder (52-19) – A soft spot in the schedule could not have come at a better time for the Thunder who lost to the Nuggets and Grizzlies before bouncing back against the Magic and Blazers.  A couple easier games against the Wizards, Timberwolves and Bucks will lead into a game against the Spurs.  That game against the Spurs very easily could be for the Western Conference title.

5.) Memphis Grizzlies (47-22) – Losing Marc Gasol to an abdominal injury could not have happened at a worse time.  They should let him rest for the regular season so that he is healthy come playoff time.  The Grizzlies will also need a little help to avoid going to Denver in the first round of the playoffs.