Knicks Morning News (Sunday, Apr 15 2012)
April 15th, 2012 by Mike Kurylo | @KnickerBlogger | Comments | Permalink |
Knicks rookie Iman Shumpert let down his guard for a Q&A session with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: If you guys make the playoffs, you’re not in yet …A: We’re gonna make the playoffs.
Q: You might have the Heat in the first round.A: That’s…
Watch your back, LeBron. This is a Garden and a Knicks team you have yet to see.
Carmelo Anthony has designs on proving to the Heat and LeBron James today this will be a different experience than their two tangos in Miami, when Mike D’Antoni’s club got crunched…
Avery Bradley hit three straight 3-pointers in the third quarter and finished with 18 points as Boston beat the Nets.
The longtime coach of the San Antonio Spurs, Gregg Popovich, and the team’s veteran star, Tim Duncan, have formed a unique partnership in the N.B.A. over the past 15 years.
Gerald Green scored 23 points, and Kris Humphries had 18 points and 13 rebounds as the Nets beat Philadelphia, dealing a serious blow to the Sixers’ Eastern Conference push.
The San Antonio Spurs clinched the Southwest Division title with a 105-91 romp over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday that kept them on the heels of the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Western Conference lead.
The San Antonio Spurs insist that being the No. 1 seed in the West isn’t important to them. They still might wind up with it.
Roy Hibbert had 23 points and 14 rebounds, including six free throws in the final 74 seconds, to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 105-99 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night.
O.J. Mayo scored 17 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Memphis Grizzlies to a 103-98 victory over the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.
Kevin Durant scored 43 points and Russell Westbrook had 35 and eight assists to keep the Oklahoma City Thunder atop the Western Conference with a 115-110 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
Avery Bradley hit three straight 3-pointers and scored 11 of his 18 points in a game-deciding third quarter as the surging Boston Celtics defeated the New Jersey Nets 94-82 Saturday night.
Luke Harangody had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Anthony Parker scored 15 points and Tristan Thompson added 14 to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 98-89 win over the Washington Wizards on Saturday night.
Amar’e Stoudemire, recovering from a back ailment, could rejoin the Knicks on Wednesday against the Nets. Stoudemire will still be a starter, Coach Mike Woodson said.
Playoff-bound Indiana draws only 14,064 fans a game to its home court.
LeBron James leads the Heat into the Garden Sunday for the first time this season, but Miami could return the first week of May. Mike Woodson hopes not, though.
Jeremy Lin did plenty for the Knicks in a few weeks in February, touched off Linsanity, became a marketing and media sensation, nearly was discussed as a candidate to succeed Mike Bloomberg.
Carmelo Anthony surprised the family of slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin by hosting them in the Knicks locker room.
Knicks rookie guard Iman Shumpert, who sprained his right ankle Friday and was officially listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Heat, declared himself ready to play.
It might be a preview of No. 2 versus No. 7 in the East Sunday at the Garden, but this time, LeBron James isn’t thinking that the Heat’s potential first-round opponent, the Knicks, is merely breakfast.
Mike Kurylo is the founder and editor of KnickerBlogger.net. His book on the 2012 Knicks, "We’ll Always Have Linsanity," is on sale now. Follow him on twitter (@KnickerBlogger).
Danvt – Doesn’t it worry you that this explosion happened just as our two other offensive weapons exited stage left?
No, Owen, it really doesn’t. A good coach, and I think we have a perfect one for our team now, puts players in the best positions to help the team. I think it took Carmelo an entire year to find a comfortable fit with NYK. Now, he’s the player we traded for (and I’d do the same trade again). There’s always adjustments as rosters fluctuate with injuries, trades, etc. I think next year the team in general and Melo in particular will be much more fluid. Everyone will know and be comfortable in their role. I have no doubt Melo, JLin and Amar’e can play together.
As for now, Melo needs to keep up his Bernard King impression and just go bonsai on the Celtics. Certainly, I think he does exceptionally well in this type of situation, but, I think he’ll be OK with other players that want the ball when they return.
Oh, it’s the Heat today. My Grandfather used to say, “an extra 5 bucks to charity if the Knicks do this.”
i hope the bucks get in and not the sixers.
I hate philly.
Go bonsai?
Look, only time will tell. And we have a statement game today upon which we can base all future judgments right? ;-)
As always, I hope I am wrong about the “negative synergies” between Melo and other high usage players and I hope his play of the last ten games continues for the rest of his contract.
It should be an interesting game today and an interesting first round series. The Knicks might be the only team in the league that has the personnel to guard the Big 2-1/2 man-to-man — Melo on LeBron, Shumpert on Wade and Chandler on Bosh. Obviously, if LeBron or Wade get hot, they can score on anyone, but the Knicks are probably better positioned than anyone else to guard them. The Heat are at their best offensively when the other team gets sloppy with the ball and they can force turnovers and get out in transition. Unfortunately, the Knicks are last in the league in turnovers, so they are REALLY going to have to focus on taking care of the ball. If the Heat are on their game, they can beat anyone. However, the Knicks have better than a puncher’s chance against them. It should be fun…
Miami has had big trouble beating good teams on the road recently, losing something like 8 of 9. couple that with NY going 9-0 at home under Woodson and you either have reasons to be optimistic or a situation that’s primed to break a couple of streaks.
game thread, please!
Amen!
When coach D left I was ready to admit defeat on Melo and conceded the point here at KB. Then he started playing like the guy I thought we were going to get. The guy can score on anyone when he’s on and if we can take advantage of overplays that’s all the O we need because we have Tyson.
Think our toughest matchup may be Chandler on Bosh. Bosh is too fast and too much range on his shot for Chandler. Bosh abused him last time also. If we can keep bosh under 20 and/or inefficient scoring we win. If not, we lose. That’s the key matchup in my mind
Melo is starting on Bosh, Fields on LeBron (gulp).
Makes some sense I guess…we need Melo to be effective on O, can’t have him guarding the best player in the game for 48 minutes. Maybe he switches to Lebron in 4th quarter. Bosh is more face up jumper, less back down post up player, so Melo could be effective swiping at the ball and we can double when appropriate. Less worried about Lebron than Wade, so hoping Shump is able to go 100%. Btw his interview with the NYPost is awesome! Definitely worth the read
GAME THREAD
gaaaaaaame threaaaaaaad
Game thread is up…
No one make Jon angry….
I should have said “player”, not “guard”. And, a player can only keep Lebron in front of him when there’s awesome help defense behind him, as is common at the highest levels of the playoffs.
And they have to use maximal energy, which is only possible for short periods of time. Lebron’s advantage through most of a game and most of the year is the relatively small energy requirements for him to overpower opponents. At the end of the season, at the end of games, opponents can go all in, and this significantly evens things up.