W2W4: New York Knicks vs. Philadelphia 76ers; March 21st, 2014

Written By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Friday, March 21^st, 2014

New York Knicks vs. Philadelphia 76ers

Pre-Game News and Notes

The New York Knicks are in the midst of playing their best basketball of the season, reeling off seven straight wins. They will look to continue the good play and winning streak tonight against the Philadelphia 76ers, owners of their own lengthy streak. The 76ers are currently riding a franchise long 22-game losing streak and do not look like they will be ending it any time soon. The Knicks have to come in and handle business against a team that is more concerned with getting a top draft pick than winning games at the end of the season. Here are some news and notes to help get the Knicks the victory tonight.

Match-Up of the Game: Carmelo Anthony vs. Thaddeus Young

http://www.morningpickup.com/76ers-drop-pair-games-weekend/

When the 76ers started moving players at the trade deadline, Thaddeus Young was one expected to go. The versatile forward would have fit nicely in almost any front court in the NBA, but he was the one player the 76ers decided to keep. Even though the expectations for the team were rock bottom right from the start of the season, Young has played well, averaging career-highs in points, rebounds, assists and steals. He will be matched up throughout the night with Anthony, being tasked with slowing down the Knicks best player.

Carmelo Anthony has played well all season and has continued it throughout the winning streak. He will give Young everything he can handle tonight. Look for Anthony to come out aggressive early and often as the Knicks will try and put the 76ers away early and cruise to a victory.

Pre-Game News and Notes:

The Knicks still have no timetable set for the return of Kenyon Martin or Andrea Bargnani. Martin seems to be closer and more likely to return of the two. He would have be a seamless addition to the rotation as his main job would be playing defense and rebounding while Bargnani was a big part of the Knicks offensive plans and had trouble fitting in with some players. Cole Aldrich should continue seeing time as the reserve big man with the positive results he has produced recently.

For the 76ers, James Anderson will be a game-time decision. If he is unable to go, expect to see a lot more of Tony Wroten. Wroten, who gave the Knicks problems in their last meeting, is an athletic wing who likes to get to the basket. He is far more explosive and aggressive than Anderson and would give the Knicks a lot more problems; Anderson is more of a three-point specialist.

-Control From the Start

It is imperative for the Knicks to get off to a strong start. If they are able to take the lead early on and build on it they can take the 76ers out of the game right away. The 76ers are a young team that cannot be given hope; the longer they are in the game the more dangerous they will be. It would be best for the Knicks to take them out early and not let them build any confidence. On a 22-game losing streak they will grab onto the faintest of hopes and try to ride that to a victory.

-Strong Guard Play Continuing

The Knicks guard play improving has coincided with the winning streak. Since J.R. Smith has been inserted into the starting lineup everything seems to be clicking. He has begun shooting the ball better and everyone now knows their roles. Tim Hardaway Jr. looks much more comfortable as the only scoring guard off the bench and the intangibles that Iman Shumpert brings fits in better with the second unit.

Also playing better throughout the streak is Raymond Felton. He will have his hands full tonight against potential NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams. Carter-Williams is having a solid season for the 76ers, but is turnover prone and struggles to shoot the ball at times. If Felton and the rest of the guards can slow him down they will have a much easier time taking down the 76ers.

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Strong 4th Quarter Pushes Knicks Past 76ers

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Monday, March 10^th, 2014

Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks

Post Game Recap

The Knicks were able to run their winning streak to four games Monday night with a 123-110 victory. It was a total team effort for the Knicks, who got a little something from all the players who stepped on the court tonight to help get the win. The Knicks are now sole owners of ninth place in the Eastern Conference, percentage points ahead of the Detroit Pistons. They now sit 3 ½ games behind the Atlanta Hawks, who were able to hold on and defeat the Utah Jazz tonight. The Knicks will look to continue their strong play Wednesday against another divisional foe in the Boston Celtics.

Player of the Game: Amar’e Stoudemire

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Stoudemire has found his groove and is dominating for the Knicks. This is as close he has looked to the Stoudemire of his Phoenix Suns and first season with the Knicks days. Tonight he scored 23 points to go with six rebounds and one block. The impressive thing about his scoring output is that he did it on only 10 shots, making nine and connecting on five of eight free throws. Stoudemire is the most efficient scorer the Knicks have and he has shown time and time again when given the minutes he can still produce offensively. Recently Stoudemire has been playing better on the defensive end as well, enabling Mike Woodson to use him more minutes during the game.

-Positives

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Tim Hardaway Jr. looked to be hitting the rookie wall recently, shooting 27.7 percent from the field and 25 percent from three point range in March. Hardaway Jr. has not let that stop him from shooting as he continues to show confidence. Tonight it paid off, as he scored a team high 28 points on 9-13 from the field and 5-7 from the three point line. His scoring off the bench is much needed with J.R. Smith and Stoudemire being moved into the starting lineup.

Carmelo Anthony struggled with his shot, going 0-7 from the three point line, but was able to help in more ways tonight. He still scored 23 points, going 9-24 overall but made a big impact on the boards. Anthony grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and kept the ball moving offensively with five assists. When on the court Anthony is the center of attention for opposing defenses, so when he moves the ball and finds the open man it makes his stats look better and produces good things for the Knicks.

The Knicks offense was clicking all night. They shot 44-81 (54.3 percent) overall and 13-32 (40.6 percent) from the three point line. Of the 44 makes, 20 were assisted on. They were also able to get easy baskets in transition, scoring 21 fast break points. The offensive cohesion was on display as five Knicks scored in double-figures; Hardaway Jr, Stoudemire, Anthony and Smith, each scored over 20 points. Four players had at least three assists as well as the Knicks kept the ball moving and found good opportunities for each other to score.

The 76ers were able to score a lot of points, but the Knicks were able to cause some problems for them defensively, which helped them build their big lead in the second half. The Knicks forced 18 turnovers, 10 of which came on steals and also added six blocks as well. They were able to do just enough defensively to slow the 76ers down and get a much needed victory.

-Negatives

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

The 76ers came into tonight with a 16 game losing streak but you wouldn’t have known it in the first half. The game was tied at halftime and the Knicks did not open it up until the fourth quarter. Throughout the first half they allowed players such as Tony Wroten to build too much confidence and it resulted in a close game throughout the first three quarters. The Knicks cannot afford any losses to teams with records worse than them if they want to stay in the playoff race. Tonight would have been a much easier night for the Knicks had they shown the same effort through the first three quarters that they did in the fourth.

It didn’t hurt them as much tonight, but the Knicks need to improve their free throw shooting. Tonight they went 22-34, equaling an unsightly 64.7 percent. If the game was closer this would have been more of a problem. The Knicks cannot close out games if they struggle so mightily from the foul line.

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Nets Snap Three-Game Skid Against 76ers

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

February 3rd, 2014

Philadelphia 76ers vs. Brooklyn Nets Post Game Recap

Final Score: 76ers 102 Nets 108

The Brooklyn Nets were able to end their three-game losing streak on Monday night with a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at home without Joe Johnson. The win was a good one for the Nets, as they needed to beat a bad 76ers team, and the win moves them to (21-25) on the season, which is four games behind the Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic Division.

Player of the Game: Paul Pierce

nydailynews.com

Nets Forward Paul Pierce was the go to guy for the Nets on Monday night in the win, as he was the games leading scorer. Pierce scored 25 points on just five for nine shooting, as he did a great job getting to the foul line. When Pierce got to the foul line he made the most of it too, as he went a perfect 14 for 14 from the charity stripe. In the last four games Pierce has been getting to the line a lot, as in the three previous losses he was at the line seven times in each game. Without Johnson’s scoring in the starting lineup, Pierce did a great job helping out in the scoring department for Brooklyn

Positives:

Back in the Starting lineup for the second straight game, Deron Williams played much better than his three for 12 shooting performance in Indiana against the Pacers. On Monday, Williams scored 21 points on eight for 19 shooting, and he was good from three-point range, going three for seven. Williams also dished out six assists to round out a nice bounce back game after his struggles against the Pacers.

Off the bench for the Nets their wasn’t a whole lot of production without Andray Blatche or Andrei Kirilenko, but Mirza Teletovic did a good job picking up the slack scoring for Blatche. Teletovic scored 20 points on seven for 12 shooting, which included him, going five for nine from three-point range in 28 minutes.

Going against who is possibly the Rookie of the Year in Michael Carter-Williams, the Nets did a very good job defensively against the young Point Guard. Carter-Williams did score 21 points, but struggled with his shooting going six for 17 from the field. He also didn’t do a good job protecting the ball, as he turned it over six times, while only dishing out four assists. Overall it was a poor game by Carter-Williams, as the Nets did a great job defending him.

Shaun Livingston had yet another great game coming off his season-high of 24 points against the Pacers, as on Monday he didn’t score as much, but filled up the stat sheet nicely. Livingston scored 13 points on four for nine shooting with six rebounds, eight assists, and a career-high seven steals. A great all-around game from Livingston led to him having the best +/- of any player at +23.

Negatives:

The 76ers did a pretty good job keeping this game close despite being double-digit underdogs, as they were led by Thaddeus Young and off the bench Tony Wroten. Young did a good job in the starting lineup, as he scored 17 points on an efficient seven for 11 shooting to go along with five rebounds. Wroten led the charge off the bench with 18 points on six for eight shooting, while going six for nine from the foul line in his second straight game of scoring 18 points.

For the Nets they did have some struggles on the wings in this game without Johnson, as Alan Anderson and Jason Terry both played very bad. Anderson scored just five points in 31 minutes, as he went an awful one for eight from the field. Terry was just as bad off the bench, as he scored three points on one for five shooting. Terry, who was once one of the best bench players in the league, has only scored in double-figures once in 2014.

Next up for the Nets will be a little break before they host the defending Western Conference Champion San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.

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W2W4: Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks; January 22nd, 2014

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Wednesday, January 22^nd, 2014

Pre-Game News and Notes

Philadelphia 76ers vs. New York Knicks

The Knicks will look to get the second half of the season off to a better start than the first half went against the 76ers at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night. This game will be the third on the Knicks eight game home stand, which has been a disaster thus far. The Knicks have suffered blowout losses to the Los Angeles Clippers and Brooklyn Nets at home, in addition to rough losses in Charlotte and Indiana previously.  The 76ers are in almost as bad of shape as the Knicks this season, making for what could be an ugly contest between the two Atlantic Division rivals. Here are some things to look for in the game tonight.

-Player News and Notes

Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin will both miss their third consecutive games. The Knicks have been terrible in the two games without the power forwards as they had been catalysts in the Knicks turnaround on the Texas Triangle trip. The Knicks have received some good news on the injury front though as Metta World Peace is hoping to return to the lineup tonight.

For the 76ers, backup guard Tony Wroten will most likely miss his second consecutive game because of an ankle injury.

-What Knicks Will Show Tonight

Throughout the season, no matter how tumultuous it had gotten, the players in the Knicks locker room always stood behind head coach Mike Woodson. A nine-game losing streak put Woodson directly on the hot seat earlier in the season but the Knicks responded well enough to keep his job. This time around it might not end as well.

After the loss to the Nets Monday afternoon some players made some discouraging comments about Woodson. Tyson Chandler voiced his frustration about the Knick’s defensive schemes, calling out the constant switching that the Knicks do. Carmelo Anthony said the Knicks showed no fight and questioned the Knicks scheming, saying they were out coached by rookie head coach Jason Kidd.

http://www.morningpickup.com/76ers-drop-pair-games-weekend/

How the Knicks respond tonight may be an indication of how things will go the remainder of the season and what the future holds for Woodson. Chandler and Anthony are looked at as the leaders of the team so if they continue voicing displeasure with things going on there will be changes made.

-What Lineup Gets the Call?

On Monday Woodson went with the small lineup, starting Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni in the backcourt with Iman Shumpert, Anthony and Chandler in the front court. It didn’t result in positive results but last season that is the lineup that sparked the Knicks and ended up with the best results.

Against the 76ers there is a chance they could go with the small lineup again. The 76ers present match ups the Knicks can go up against with their small lineup with Thaddeus Young and James Anderson as the starting forwards. Will Woodson stick with the lineup that gave him the most success last season, or will he continue to try and force the big lineup out there and have mixed results?

-Match up of the Game: Raymond Felton vs. Michael Carter-Williams

When the Knicks are at their best, Felton is playing well; in games that he shoots over 40 percent in the Knicks are 7-4, but when he shoots under 40 they are 3-9. The Knicks guard play has been as big a problem this season for them as any. Their offensive struggles have been bad but where they struggle the most is on the defensive end.

The Knicks are giving up the most points to opposing point guards in the NBA and things could continue tonight. Carter-Williams is a strong Rookie of the Year candidate and could cause some havoc for the Knicks guards tonight. He is averaging 17.5 points, 6.7 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. Those numbers are impressive for anyone, let alone a rookie as Carter-Williams uses his difference in size to his advantage. If Felton is not on top of his game tonight Carter-Williams will eat him up and spit him out.

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