Knicks Losing Streak Hits 7

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Monday, March 3^rd, 2014

New York Knicks vs. Detroit Pistons

Post Game Recap

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

This was a rough game to watch for fans of either team, but it hurt a little more for Knicks fans as they fell to the Pistons 96-85 Monday night. The Knicks didn’t not put forth the effort once again and were once again embarrassed by their opponent. The focus and attention to detail just are not there for this team as a playoff run looks as out of the question as ever now. They have completely collapsed after a strong January and look to just be going through the motions as the positives needed to win basketball games are coming far too sporadically for this team. The Knicks losing streak now hits seven as they have lost 13 of their last 15 games and fall to 21-40.

Player of the Game: None

There was no Knicks player that brought it on both ends of the court tonight. The closest person was Jeremy Tyler, who came in and continued to give the energy and competitiveness he has shown all season. With the season all but down the drain he should see his minutes increase. You could also say that Shannon Brown and Earl Clark were players of the game as they didn’t give any negative plays to the Knicks on the court being stapled to the bench and receiving DNP-Coach Decision.

-Positives

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Amar’e Stoudemire was inserted into the starting five and he responded in a big way. Stoudemire poured in 22 points as he had it going all night offensively. He was able to attack the rim and knock down his jump shots when they were presented to him. When Stoudemire is able to get consistent minutes he looks spry and is extremely effective on the offensive end. He also added six rebounds tonight.

Carmelo Anthony didn’t let Stoudemire have all the fun offensively, scoring 28 of his own points. Anthony and Stoudemire looked like the tandem they were supposed to be when the Knicks traded for Anthony. Anthony added five rebounds, two assists and three steals. When your offensive weapons combined for 50 points you would expect to be more in the game than the Knicks were.

-Negatives

The Knicks were an abomination in the rebounding department tonight. The Pistons dominated the boards, out rebounding the Knicks 54-40. The Pistons hurt the Knicks on the offensive glass, as they resulted in easy baskets for the Pistons big men. Andre Drummond was a one-man wrecking crew rebounding for the Pistons as he grabbed a career-high 26; seven offensive and 18 defensive. Tyson Chandler grabbed 18 for the Knicks but he did not impact the game as much as Drummond as he missed multiple point blank shots at the rim on his put-backs.

With Stoudemire and J.R. Smith being inserted into the starting lineup, the bench lost a lot of punch offensively. Tonight the bench was unable to keep up with the bench of the Pistons, as they were outscored 36-7. Overall it was a tough go at it offensively for the Knicks, who shot 38.6 percent overall from the floor. The team looked out of sync outside of the first quarter, turning the ball over 17 times and showing no semblance of an offense. Too often a player would take the ball up, dribble multiple times and hoist up a shot without making a pass or even starting the offense.

For much of the season the guard play has really let the Knicks down and it continued tonight. Tonight it was hard to watch as all the guards combined to shoot 9-41 from the field. What makes it worse is Smith missed his first 10 shots of the game; he only got going once the game was decided. He finished the game 2-17, Raymond Felton was 1-9, Pablo Prigioni was 1-2, Iman Shumpert 2-7 and Tim Hardaway Jr. was 0-6. Hardaway Jr. may have had the most disappointing night of the bunch, as he gave nothing else on the court, recording only one assist as his only other registered stat.

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

How Mike Woodson sits on the sideline and doesn’t make changes is mind-boggling. He has players like Tyler and Toure’ Murry that have shown time and time again that when they are inserted into the game they will bring energy every night. Surround that with the right lineup and things start looking like a Knicks team fans have missed all season. Instead he sticks with lineups and rotations that have not worked, making it hard to continue watching this team play and giving little hope of closing the season out on a high note.