Knicks Topped By Blazers in Sloppy Game
Posted by Kenneth Teape on Thursday, February 06, 2014 with No comments
By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Portland Trail Blazers vs. New York
Knicks
Post Game Recap
The Knicks suffered yet another tough
home loss Wednesday night, falling to the Blazers 94-90. Execution for both
teams was sloppy throughout the night but the Blazers were able to get it
together a little more than the Knicks when it counted. During pre-game Wally Szczerbiak
said it was going to be a game of shot takers and whoever was more of the
makers would come out on top. That is exactly what happened as the Blazers made
eight three pointers compared to four for the Knicks, a 12 point difference
that ultimately proved to be the difference. What makes it worse is the Blazers
were clearly not on top of their game but the Knicks were still unable to take
advantage. There is no use for morale victories for this Knicks team, but
hopefully they can take some of the positives from the game tonight and put
them towards their next game Friday night against the Denver Nuggets at Madison
Square Garden.
Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports |
Player of the Game: Knicks Bench
The Knicks bench was outstanding tonight
and is as responsible as anyone for the Knicks being in the game tonight.
Jeremy Tyler, Amar’e Stoudemire, Tim Hardaway Jr. and J.R. Smith all gave the
Knicks a spark and played well tonight. In only 11 minutes Tyler was extremely
active, getting second possessions for the Knicks on the offensive end and
playing with intensity. Stoudemire was on fire offensively, scoring 15 points
in his 22 minutes and backing up his talk after practice Tuesday about
warranting more playing time. He also grabbed seven rebounds. Hardaway Jr. and
Smith were not knocking down their perimeter shots efficiently but they were
able to score 12 and 18 points respectively and help in other areas; Hardaway
Jr. grabbed five rebounds and Smith had three rebounds and six assists when
given the chance to run the offense. They outscored the Blazers bench 50-20 on
the night.
Matchup of the Game Recap:
Shockingly Damian Lillard did not go off
on Raymond Felton like expected. Lillard, like his Blazers teammates and
virtually everyone else in the game, struggled from the field going 4-12.
Felton wasn’t much better going 2-6. They even had similar other stats, as
Lillard had five rebounds and four assists while Felton had four rebounds and
three assists. The big difference was the playing time, as Lillard was on the
court in crunch time leading his team while Felton was stapled to the bench,
not appearing in the fourth quarter. Lillard played 38 minutes while Felton
garnered only 23.
-Positives
The disparity in rebounding was pointed
out in pre-game but the Knicks were able to handle themselves well on the
boards. The Blazers won the rebounding battle, but it was close as the finally
tally was 49-48. It was a team effort for the Knicks, as five players, Tyson
Chandler, Carmelo Anthony, Stoudemire, Pablo Prigioni and Hardaway Jr. all
grabbed at least five rebounds.
Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports |
The Blazers were off their game tonight
in part because of the Knicks defense. The Blazers were held to 38 percent
shooting on the night as their All-Stars LaMarcus Aldridge and Lillard
struggled from the field, shooting a combined 9-29. Aldridge had the
back-breaking dagger shot in the final two minutes though, as his turnaround
jumper over Chandler put the Blazers ahead for good.
Mike Woodson is on the hot seat and did
make some questionable decisions tonight but he should be applauded for
changing things up a little bit. He sat starting point guard Felton for the
whole fourth quarter, deciding instead to ride the hot hand in Prigioni and
Smith running the offense. It was out of character for Woodson to change things
up so drastically but it was the right move tonight.
-Negatives
The Knicks offense was not in sync
tonight. The Blazers have a very forgiving defense, ranking 27th in
points allowed per game. The Knicks were not able to take advantage though,
shooting only 40 percent in the game and an unsightly 19 percent from the three
point line. It was the difference in the game as the Blazers were near their
three point percentage average but the Knicks were well below it. Also the foul
line disparity hurt again, as the Blazers went 26-33 and the Knicks went 14-20.
Iman Shumpert gave the Knicks nothing
once again in the scoring department. It is beyond trade rumors now as Shumpert’s
struggles have spanned virtually all season outside of the Texas Trip. He went
0-5 tonight and makes things extremely difficult for the Knicks as they already
have a player in the starting lineup in Prigioni who doesn’t look to score.
Shumpert needs to figure things out as the guard play once again tonight let
the Knicks down.
Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports |
Anthony came up short tonight for the
Knicks. When they needed him most he was unable to come through as he went
scoreless in the fourth quarter. Anthony finished the game 11-28 from the
field, struggling from the perimeter as he went 1-6 from threes and only got to
the foul line for three attempts, making all of them. On the contrary, Aldridge
struggled from the field all night but came up huge for the Blazers when they
needed him most to end a Knicks run or down the stretch. Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum made life difficult for Anthony as the game wore on.
For the praise Woodson deserves for
benching Felton, there are still come questions that should be raised. Why was
Stoudemire taken out when he was clearly the hot hand offensively for the
Knicks? It would be nice to see Woodson be consistent in the decisions that he
makes, playing all the hot hands and players keeping the Knicks in the game
instead of reverting back to old lineups. It is not good when it is February
and Woodson still does not know game in and game out who he can use for end of
game situations. The hot seat is as hot as it has been during his tenure as
Knicks coach and there are rumblings that he will not make it past the All-Star
break.
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