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Game 19: New York Knicks v Boston Celtics (Review)
Predicted Score: 97-80
Actual Score: 73-114
By: Malcolm Merritt
Email: mjmerritt23@gmail.com
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“I wish I could explain it. Didn’t see that coming.” Those
were the words of Mike Woodson
after the loss against the Boston Celtics
(10-12). If you expected this to happen, you’re lying. After winning their
last two games in a similar blowout fashion, New York (5-14)
lied on their back as Boston ran all over them in a wire-to-wire, 41-point
blowout, 114-73.
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| The Knicks spent all afternoon chasing after the Boston Celtics. |
The game was never good. Not in the slightest. The Knicks
started behind the eight ball with terrible offense and defense. The Celtics
started the game off on an 18-1 run. In the first 6 minutes of the game, New
York had only made one shot. The first quarter ended with the Knicks down
34-11. The energy, tenacity, and general feel of this game were completely
different than the last two. To begin the second quarter, the bench came in and
it seemed like a spark had been ignited. With the trio of Prigioni, Stoudemire
and World
Peace, the Knicks’ bench was able to cut the lead to 17. But the starters
came back into the game and the door was shut.
The Knicks starting five shot 3 for 23 in the first half,
13% from the field and only made one three pointer. One thing that may have
contributed to the Knicks lack of energy, which put them behind so much that
they had no chance of coming back, was the absence of Kenyon Martin.
He has started in recent weeks, bringing a sort of defensive intensity that
boosted the Knicks whenever he was on the floor. He was out with a sore left
ankle and Hardaway
Jr. got the starting spot in the game. He finished with 8 points on 3 of 7
shooting.
The second half was no different. The first Celtics basket
in the half was a summation of the entire game. Crawford ran
up the floor with Bradley right
behind him. He stopped at the top of the key as Shumpert was defending
Bradley. Bradley took a back door cut and dunked the ball emphatically, leaving
the Knicks bewildered and confused. The Knicks didn’t get their first points in
the half until the 8-minute mark. By midway through the third quarter, the
Knicks were wandering in the dark. There was no cohesiveness on defense; it
looked like they had given up.
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| The Knicks seemed to not care as the lead grew bigger and bigger. |
Jordan Crawford led the way for the Celtics as they hit 14
three pointers, shooting 56% from deep. Crawford, who was acquired in a trade
from Washington last season, has honed in on the point guard role and taken
full advantage of it. He had 23 points and 7 assists as he drained six
three-pointers, not caring at all for the defense in front of him. Jared Sullinger,
who had 21 points and dominated Andrea Bargnani, closely followed him. The
Celtics had 6 players in double figures, including their five starters.
Iman Shumpert and Raymond Felton,
two players who had phenomenal games in their last two blowout wins, were a
combined 0-12, no points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Woodson benched them late
in the third quarter. J.R. Smith was
once again below par with 3 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. He has not
performed up to standards after signing his new contract this summer, and now
Knicks fans are beginning to wonder whether the reigning Sixth Man of the Year
was really worth it. Carmelo Anthony
led the Knicks in scoring again, with 19 points but had a plus/minus of -40. As
the superstar of this team, things are supposed to be better when he is on the
floor, that wasn’t the case at all. He went 5 for 15, scoring 8 points from the
free throw line. He played one-on-one ball in the first quarter with Brandon
Bass, who took the liberty of relying on his teammates and shutting down
Anthony. He also only grabbed five rebounds, which could have been much better.
The only sources of light were Amar’e
Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler.
Stoudemire scored 17 points on 5-7 shooting, and going 7-10 from the free throw
line. He was killing the pick and roll game as he showed extreme explosiveness
constantly in the paint. Also, Stoudemire drew a foul on Jeff Green,
showing a change in his defensive outlook, which has been coming around as of
recent. Tyson Chandler was seen warming up before the game. He has had no
setbacks in his treatment as he tries to recover from his broken left leg. He
hasn’t been cleared to run on the court and has been using an Anti-gravity
treadmill so far.
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| Tyson Chandler (6) is well on his way back into action, even though no time table has been set. |
The Knicks inexplicably strayed away from what had them
winning in the last two games. Most NBA players are taught to take advantages
of mismatches when on offense. New York saw them constantly, but Boson’s team
defensive approach created havoc as the Knicks weren’t able to generate any
offense. It was their fourth wire-to-wire loss and their worse loss this year
in general. They are now 2-7 at home and 0-6 in their orange jerseys.
New York plays Kyrie Irving
and the Cleveland
Cavaliers (7-13) for the first time this season on the road on Tuesday.
Hopefully it is a different result from this game.
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