2012-13 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Celtics
January 7th, 2013 by Brian Cronin | Comments | Permalink |
The Celtics are playing without Rondo tonight. It is time for the Knicks to sweep the leg and show no mercy and just put a beatdown on the short-handed Celtics.
Oh, any maybe they could try not playing poorly in the first quarter this game?
Let’s go Knicks!
MELO MELO
(quite rightly)
Is there anything worse than the Boston broadcast? It’s bad enough NBALP isnt in HD, but c’mon give me the option of the New York play-by-play.
lol I’m lovin the Boston accents but why am I getting a feed of the game with Boston’s commentators when the game is at MSG??
You miss the splenderiferous linguistics of Clyde?
lol yes
Wow..Stat looks lost out there on D still
Boston running a Zone
a Boston broadcast from the Johnny Most era?
Can’t complain about the first quarter so far.
one of my favorite childhood nba memories was watching a boston broadcast, lakers v celtics. the celts were up 1 and got called for a travel or something (may have gone out of bounds off of the celts). Heinsohn was pissed about the call but there was only like 1.5 seconds left. heinson is complaining but not going completely beserk yet. it gets inbounds to magic who shoots the ball basketball style from about 50 over his shoulder and it banks in. heinsohn goes crazy, calling everything “atrocious” again and again. the best was that magic went for like 38, 15, and 12. heinsohn refused to acknowledge magic’s shot or unbelievable game and then awared the player of the game to jerry scheitsting, who had like 8 points or something. good times
Thought he did a good job of keeping in that in-between area; just close enough to keep an eye on his opponent but hovering just near the interior to roll over in case of penetration. His head bobbin between the ball handler and his own man looks not so fluid but he’s where he’s supposed to be.
Ephus where were you on this. J/K
anyone thinking Green has “novak eyes”
Stat really does need to improve his picks though. Guys fighting through or past them far too easily.
Pooh for a second there I thought Novak stew a charge
Awful finish to the 1st quarter for the Knicks.
Bleh. Prig doing his best “bad Felton” impression to close the quarter. Bumbled passing and missed shots 4 possessions in a row.
stat sets picks differently than chandler and its caused problems fo prigs and jr. not saying its stat’s fault. our guys need to adjust
novak was literally off my screen on that last 3
Felton doesn’t turn the ball over like that, I can’t wait until Prigioni is out of the rotation again, really not a fan.
I hate the Celtics.
Not JR’s best defense this so far this game. He is getting physically manhandled by their bigger guys. May be a foul, but if they aren’t going to call it, we need to body up a lot harder. This game is going to get ugly
Melo making up got lost time.
Hey, Ronnie Brewer hit a shot
It’s totally Stat’s fault. A pick that doesn’t pick off a defender is worthless. Maybe I watch too much football, but when players miss their blocks and fail to even chip a player, it drives me nuts. Look at how hard Kidd and Prig have to around picks and how easily other PGs work through or around Stat’s picks and it’s night and day.
This isn’t an issue of a rusty shooting touch or learning defensive rotations. Just set the pick properly with a shoulder width leg stance perpendicular to the defender’s approach and keep your elbows flared — and test the refs with one or two shoulder nudges. Cmon man.
beautiful passing! and brew even made the shot!!
you are probably right. i complain about everything else with stat, so i was just trying to give him the benefit of the doubt
Fucking Paul Pierce. Every goddamn time.
i meant: you are prob right, i was just trying to give stat the benefit of the doubt
Pierce is killing it but still up seven. Not bad .
I think that’s the 3rd or 4th time in the past two games where Melo has found Novak with a cross court pass for an open 3. I don’t know if its a designed play off of a screen or just Melo continuing to pass out of doubles, but I love it.
Aside from Michael Jordan there is no player I hate/fear playing against than Paul Pierce and its not even close.
It’s only a three point game, but the Celtics are lucky to be even this close. The Knicks are totally going to put this away in the second half. As we know, they always start slow. So I predict a 10-point Knick win (at least).
Bama putting a hurt on the Irish. Knicks need to do the same to the Cs.
Surprised both teams topped 50 with how the Celtics have been playing defense.
It’s jjust the D trying to be in a position to help the helper if Melo drives and Tyson doing a good job shielding Novak’s man from getting back so fast to close out on Novak in the corner
I had a clear impression that bad Felton turns the ball over more than Prig (let alone good Felton). Is this incorrect?
im still looking forward to the first ever chandler to camby to backcourt double backtap. we almost had it a moment ago
Ugh…I had 2 mute the TV…
Hard to listen to and hard to watch right now.
Brewer had maybe the worst stretch of basketball I’ve ever seen at the NBA level to begin the third. I really enjoyed his decision to not take a wide open layup after Kidd corraled an offensive board. Any lineup with Chandler and Camby requires that everybody else be able to shoot. Brewer is an awful fit in that lineup and his pathetic defensive effort is not helping.
At least Tyson came to play tonight.
Kobe assist!
wtf Melo
Flop
Melo’s IQ on defense is awful.
Does the four fouls make me a waver a bit?
Of course.
Enough so that I don’t think they’ll win?
Of course not!
that call on tyson was bs. you cant just put your chin all o er the guy and then be shocked when a shoulder hits it
Astonished that Woodson hasn’t been T’ed up.
Celtics playing virtually the entire 3rd quarter w/o Rondo and Pierce and are outscoring the Knicks. Awful.
Refs letting this one slip out of their control again.
The Bahstun announcers sound drunk.
“Ah dat Cahmelo, he wuz jus’ ahlova da guy.”
Not for nothing but Lee and Bradley ride the shit out of the Knick ballhandlers the entire time.
I do not fucking understand how certain teams are literally alowed to beat on the Knicks…it’s incomprehensible smfh
we r not handling the celts pressure d well at all
The Knicks are just too deep, even with Felton out. You take away Melo, they can still go to good JR, and good JR is as good as most shooting guards in the NBA.
Priggi Smalls is the illest. As in, he makes me feel ill.
what an awful call. that may be the worst charge call i have ever seen
Oh snap, Washington beat OKC!
Fat ass Dillinger flopping for an academy award tonight
Avery Bradley is taking over this game
We’re starting to unravel..and im annoyed
Celtics just like the Bulls playing physical D which annoys the Knicks and makes them lose their cool.
JR Smith calming the team down. Never thought I’d type that out.
They are playing streetball out there idk if it’s rep or what but they are allowed to assault the Knicks and u wonder why they get frustrated
i have no problem with the oressure d, but when you beat it, and then they have people taking sideways, moving charges in the lane (on the pass) and the refs give them it, it gets a little ridiculous
Anybody but that bum Sullinger
Down 4 after 3 quarters at home to a Celtics team w/o Rondo and with Pierce being in foul trouble the entire game.
Amare just stood there and watched. Vintage.
We really need Felton back.
I think we can all agree we dont want to draw the Celtics in the 1st round of he playoffs. These bleepin bleeps are bleepin pissin me off with their bleep. Bleep them up their bleeps. Cant bleeping stand them. Bleep.
Safe to say that for the first time since his injury the Knicks seriously miss Felton.
It’s really amazing to me how clueless Amar’e can look when forced to make rotations defensively. It just boggles my mind.
Why are we forced to use a timeout when pne of their knuckleheads decided to scratch our player while fouling him like a crazy bag lady?????
These games always get so chippy.
I feel like this is at least nearing the appropriate amount of malice for a Boston/Knicks game.
Make up call.
Garnet’s fake tough guy act is wearing really thin
Super testy!
Officially a mosh pit in the paint
Swack.
Melo needs to sit for a minute.
What movie title would describe this?
I’m going with “There will be blood.”
Knicks should be featuring STAT on offense, since Carmelo can’t hit the broad side of a barn and is on the verge of an aneurysm.
Get ‘em, JR.
Crazy ass game..again!
Ok, definitely the most exciting game ive watched in a while simply because of the sheer spite that’s radiating from the floor. I will absolutely hate life if we lose this. Again.
Lol u love it huh
Instead of going for the steal, Smith should have just trapped Terry right on the baseline. Likely would have forced him out of bounds.
This is not Knicks style.
The animosity level is through the roof. No doubt I hate the celtics more then the heat.
WHY ARE THEY SWITCHING EVERYTHING???
Melo has to get his head back in the game.
Why is Amar’e in the game right now??
6-21 is sub optimal
Melo is the anti pierce right now.
Melo needs to chill the fuck out.
he’s in some sort of psychosis it’s incredible
Should’ve gotten a 2nd T for that swipe. Garnett is mindfucking him right now. Extremely disappointing.
They’ve allowed the Melo switch onto Garnett and the Kidd switch on to Pierce every position. Cost them the game.
Im sure everyone is loving all this fake tough talk going on but I hate it. Celtics have gotten into the Knicks heads (well really just Melo’s head) same as the Bulls did.
I don’t like how Breen compliments KG for behavior that he’d call “thuggish” in other players.
position = possession
I semi loathe mike breen
geeezus. do we have to wait until jr’s face is gouged open to call a foul on bradley???
Melo is not going to be amazing every game. He’s due a bad game now and then. It’s impressive that he can play this poorly and the Knicks could still be very much in this game.
Hope JR’s cutman can get him out for the next round
The defense Bradley is allowed to play is ridiculous.
Melo is anger chucking like whoa
Amazing shot by Pierce. Great play by Melo drawing the foul.
heinsohn has somehow formulated in his own mind that the refs have screwed over the celtics
What a dumb play by Terry. Dude drove to the sidelines! what the heck?!
Pierce. I swear. I need three Knicks fans to go berserker rage, maximum spider and final justice on his Knick-killin butt before he officially becomes the second coming of Reggie Miller.
Pierce blowing a kiss to the MSG crowd while shitting on the Knicks again. Some things never change.
The consistent switching between Melo and Chandler off Pierce and Garnett lost the Knicks the game. That must have been the strategy because they were letting it happen so easily. Awful coaching. Awful.
Yup
Melo talking shit to Lee I think it was while KG is shooting FTs. Really?? Look at the scoreboard and your box score stat line before talking shit to a team missing their best player who is winning on your home court mainly due to your own horrible play.
Yeah Im pissed about tonight’s game lol.
San Antonio and OKC are also going to lose and both to teams much shittier than Boston, so it is just one of those nights.
I agree with u…but the bulls and Celtic have been allowed to pound on them an the Knicks have to learn to deal with it
Carmelo going 6-25 and Prigi turning it over 4 times in 15 minutes also did not help
take it easy dude…he had a bad game we get it
sucks that the knicks lost, but that was probably the most entertaining and intense Knick game I’ve watched all season. The last 20 minutes of game time or so, both teams were working so hard. Sad, the Knicks seem to struggle to play with controlled intensity in these physical games. This one was the worst, but the two Bulls losses were similar.
Its one thing to have a bad game, its another to act like a punk during it. Looked horrible to be acting like that. Sorry.
Looking forward to getting Shump back..the real Avery Bradley! Lol
I liked Bradley a lot last year and I continue to dig him. I don’t like the Celtics, but I dig Bradley.
The only silver lining is that these Knicks need to learn to deal with playoff intensity. Pierce and Garnett were as cool as can be down the stretch, Melo, JR and Chandler were not.
Have to be impressed with the Celtics D, they got right up into Melo, Prigs, etc. We have to learn how to deal with that. I guess the news of the Celtics demise was greatly exaggerated.
Yeah but I would have preferred the Spurs bad-Melo that change the game with his passing and D not the Grizz bad-MElo where he self destructed.
Man, it’s one thing to lose, another to let another team just blow up your mind like that. Feels like we’re nothing to them. Melo is just a little toy that they can play with.
Don’t draw too many conclusions, though. They’ve done the same to LeBron. Detroit did it to Jordan, too. Getting beat like this doesn’t prove anything, how you react to it does.
Hope they have Jan 24 at Boston circled. Need to get over this hump.
And the loss to Memphis. We’re not soft, but we need to get a lot tougher before we start talking “contender.”
Yuck. I’m guessing Woodson was looking down the road by having Amar’e finish the game but he would have been better served by going offense defense with Novak and Brewer (though I’m not sure Brewer on Pierce really would have helped all that much). No point in having Amar’e on the floor unless you’re looking to really involve him on the offensive end which the Knicks really weren’t the last 5 minutes.
Also, huge red flag on Prigioni- couldn’t handle ball pressure at all- doesn’t bode well in match-ups against either Boston or Miami in the playoffs.
Twitter reporting that apparently Melo was trying to go after KG after the game in the locker room. Brilliant stuff.
Seriously? Ugh. That’s lame.
Lol a punk huh…high and mighty aren’t we
I haven’t seen the game yet, but I thought you were a ’90s guy?
KG is the punk here, don’t get it twisted. Melo and KG have had a lot of battles over the years. Melo will get him/them back.
There is a trend in regards to emotions, but good/smart teams reverse it when it matters. I have a pretty good idea that ball-handling and a lack of penetration played a big part in the loss.
He really looks like he’s the fifth option out there when he’s playing with Melo and JR (first option is Melo, second option is JR, third option is try Melo again, fourth option is try JR again and fifth option is Amar’e).
It is if it’s true
Oh true, I would not be surprised at all if it is BS.
And to ruru’s point, I don’t blame Melo for getting heated in the game, but if he seriously followed a dude into the other team’s locker room? John Starks wouldn’t even do that. Hopefully it is just BS.
Lol @ starks
Big difference is that was part of the Riley Knicks teams strategy was physical play. Thats what they did. Starks and Mason were hot heads and when they did something stupid it was often brought up as a reason why they couldnt get over the top, especially when playing teams like the Bulls who knew how to get into their heads w/o getting out of their game like the Celtics tonight.
Also your superstar can not act this way. Ewing never did. Its one thing if someone like JR lost his cool cause thats his rep. For Melo to do so and clearly let it affect his game is not a good thing to see at all. Guarantee you Pierce and KG will probably laugh about this later tonight about how they got into Melo’s head and was able to get a win at MSG w/o Rondo playing.
You notice I dont complain much about stuff like bad shooting because I understand you have bad shooting games. Stuff like effort on D and losing your cool like Melo did tonight piss me off because that has nothing to do with basketball skill its mostly about their mentality which can be controlled. KG is a punk but he is a champion and you notice he never loses his cool, ditto Pierce. They use it to their advantage. I hate it but cant fault them since they have had alot of postseason success.
I think you’d be surprised. That kind of thing has happened a lot over the years. I mean, how many times did Michael Jordan punch a teammate in practice?
I remember the first practice after Kenyon Martin was signed he threw a brutal haymaker on Nene after getting elbowed in the neck. That fued lasted a good week.
There’s a reason teams go out and sign limited skill defensive oriented intimidators. In fact, that’s precisly why the Nuggets signed Martin in 2004 — a direct response to the timberwolves series.
I really don’t mind it considering it’s KG. really, I mean that guy is bottom of the barrel. He’s had it coming for years. It’s not like Melo’s carrying a gun around or being an idiot. He had business and by all accounts he handled it.
Melo has matured alot but he still has that lil immature left in him and tonight it just boiled over, hopefully we can use this to build on
January 24, 2013.
really? larry Bird, magic, MJ, all of these guys “lost their cool” on the court quite a few times in their respective careers.
Pistons Bulls? How do you think Detroit won those series?
Sometimes you just have to take care of things.
Well this is where you have to hope Amar’e can really get his legs back because he’s probably the toughest guy for the Celtics to match up against. Even tonight, he got quality looks against Bass when they went to him. Of course, he’s going to make it tougher for Melo because he’s not going to space the floor like Novak. And while he was a little better tonight, he still isn’t sure where he should be offensively- especially in those multiple screen sets. Still, given how well Pierce plays Melo, the Knicks may have to rely on Stat pretty heavily if they want to beat the Celtics in a playoff series.
thank you.
Take care of things on the court by winning.
idk, Pierce is a good defender and the celtics play very good team defense, but i mean 35/10/12 in their last match-up…. two 40+ point games and 6 of 35 or more against him.
Melo will get one of these back in a major major way, I guarantee it.
I think what differentiates this from those situations is the degree of control. For instance, Charles Oakley did some insane stuff. Dude burst into opposing team’s practice to attack guys who owed him money, ya know? That’s just crazy. But it ends up making Oakley look like the ultimate badass to the rest of the NBA (same with the Kenyon Martin stuff you mentioned). Here, I don’t think it makes the Celtics respect Melo more, it makes them think “Wow, we really know how to make this guy lose his cool.”
I mean, whatever, end of the day, a lot of Melo’s performance tonight was just bad luck. He missed some open looks. If he makes, say, two more shots and still shoots 8 for 26, the Knicks likely win the game. I don’t think their head games made much of a difference in his performance – I think he’s more collected than that, but him going after them like that makes it look like they got to him. And I don’t see Oakley (or Kenyon Martin or MJ or Bird or Zeke or Starks or whoever) going after a guy in his own locker room like this. It doesn’t help their rep. For instance, when Tim Thomas talked shit about Martin in 2004, did Martin go after him in either the locker room or on the court? No, he just blew him off to show that THomas’ comments had no effect on him (and talked shit about him, of course. I’d have no problem with Melo talking shit about KG).
I wouldn’t be surprised if KG threw one of those “nobody’s looking so I think I’ll throw a cheap elbow to this guy’s chops” he’s famous for. I have to say, as much as admire how hard KG plays and how great a teammate just about everybody he’s played with or for has said he is, he’s still impossible for me to root for.
Yeah, it is ridiculous how much credit KG gets for doing shit that anyone else would be ripped for. Breen literally praised KG for hitting Melo after the whistle had been blown on a foul by Bradley on Melo. Can you imagine if Tyson Chandler did that? Or hell, imagine if Melo did it? Breen would want to have him arrested!
Obviously…. That isn’t off the table yet. this wasn’t game 7 folks.
It was bad, jarring, but revenge games throughout the regular season are important.
I think tonight went down the way it did because the entire building (save for a few Celtic fans) wanted to see Boston get destroyed. Melo and JR took some really questionable shots from three down the stretch because they wanted to take the top off of the building. Jason Kidd, Tyson Chandler, and Mike Woodson will probably all have to talk to the team about keeping their composure.
Avery Bradley and Rajon Rondo have to be most annoying combination of back-court defenders. Bradley was sniffing shorts tonight.
True, but he does a lot with what they allow him to get away with. He’s a similarly excellent defender as Shump without the impressive physique Shump has.
I’ll take the blame for the loss with my MELO MELO up top, I won’t try that again. hurry back, Shumpie!!!
See, the difference is that KG has been doing this with Melo for years — talking shit, cheap shots et al.
Melo used to really struggle with it as an 19/20 year old kid. But there was a game in 2006 i think, Melo put up like 35/8/8, just dominated.
My point is that there’s a long history here where KG’s gotten Melo’s number and Melo’s responded.
Personally, I think Melo’s used anger and these kinds of blow-ups as motivation for future meetings. he’s not going to forget abou t this, and I can assure you he’s not going to lose his cool like he did tonight.
I would have had a much bigger problem if Melo hadn’t responded emotionally during or after the game in some way because that’s really what KG is trying to do –turn Melo passive, defeated. That’s what bullies do. Melo’s response wasn’t ideal, but it was a response and the next one will be different.
KG must have said something really bad to Melo, maybe something personal. I wouldn’t put anything past KG, this is the same guy who called Villenueva a cancer patient.,
I have no doubt Melo will probably have a 40 pt game vs the Celtics this season. He has had some great games vs them as a Knick already. But tonight I dunno man I really didnt like what I saw from him. When all this stuff first happened with him and KG there was still I believe 8 mins left in the game, plenty of time to win the game and instead he started firing away and missing some bad shots (he did hit a couple too I believe).
If you are a winner you get the benefit of the doubt on things like this which unfortunately at the moment Melo isnt. If they win it all or at least reach the NBA Finals this season then trust me stuff like this happens next season and nobody would worry about it. But for now it worries the crap out of me that Melo mentally might not be up to it in a big playoff game if stuff like this happens.
Talent has never been a question about Melo but his mental approach has been. He has taken a big step this season in that regard but for me tonight was tough to watch. I certainly hope next time he stays under control and uses his anger in a good way on the court but you have to understand why a game like tonight would make people question him.
Fair enough, if that’s how it shakes out, I suppose I, too, can look past tonight’s unfortunate blow-up.
Reporters tweeting that Melo left early w/o speaking to reporters. Probably a good thing, no need for him to say something stupid or that could get him into trouble with the NBA. Let him cool off.
Knicks players really circling the wagons round Melo tonight any time they’re asked about him. Good to see.
Wow, what a game. Really sucks to lose that one. At least I’m not a Notre Dame alumnus/fan
Observations:
1) Aggressive, physical defense really does seem to get to Melo – esp when he’s not getting calls. His altercation with Garnett (whatever it was) had him hot (and not in the good way) for the entire 4th quarter. He played selfish on offense and over-aggressive on defense as a result and it was unbecoming of a leader. It’ll be something to watch for the reunion, but I really hope Garnett told him he was banging Lala, b/c this behavior doesn’t bode well for the playoffs. I understand being ticked for a possession or two or a couple minutes, but anyway…
2) Watching Brewer play offense is becoming more and more upsetting to watch
3) Watching Amare play help defense is bothersome right now- didn’t like having him in the 4th to end the game, would have rather have had Camby out there.
Yeh, let’s not do that again Jon.
Oh yeh this. That was one of the couple spots in the game where I absolutely lost it. That and the non-help from Amare and the idiotic over aggressive defense out at the half-court at the worst possible moments…
Knicks now 3-4 in their last 7 home games.