Knicks Morning News (Sunday, Apr 22 2012)
April 22nd, 2012 by Mike Kurylo | @KnickerBlogger | Comments | Permalink |
ATLANTA â?? In his return to the Knicks on Friday, Amar’e Stoudemire managed to do something no NBA player had been able to accomplish the past 3 1/2 weeks â?? stop Carmelo Anthony.
Or maybe it was Anthony who stopped himself in Cleveland as his 12-point, one-rebound, four-turnover outing may…
C’mon, even a dullard like me saw that coming.
Apostroph’e Stoudemire returned against the Cadavers and the Knicks’ offense â?? flawless to a fault in its previous two games â?? took a powder and took the defense with it.
The same collage which shot nearly 57 percent (better than 59…
With eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter and his Knicks down by 18 points in Cleveland, Mike Woodson was all set to put Carmelo Anthony back into the game.
The N.B.A.’s executive of the year trophy rarely goes to a team with a middling record, but the Knicks’ interim general manager Glen Grunwald demands consideration.
Denver earned its ninth straight postseason bid with a win over Phoenix. Philadelphia ended Indiana’s seven-game winning streak, and is close to sealing a playoff spot.
Walt Frazier, the sports analyst and sharp dresser, has a regimen of exercise and health food on Sundays to maintain the image his fans expect.
Devin Harris scored 21 points and had a key block that forced overtime to help the Utah Jazz defeat the Orlando Magic 117-107 and keep their lock on the final Western Conference playoff spot.
Derrick Rose returned to the lineup to help Chicago Bulls beat the Dallas Mavericks 93-83 on Saturday and increase their lead over the Miami Heat in the race for the Eastern Conference’s top seed.
Brandon Jennings scored 30 points to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a 106-95 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Saturday night that kept their slim playoff hopes alive.
Rudy Gay scored 21 points and had a key block in the final seconds as the Memphis Grizzlies won their fourth straight, 93-89 over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night.
Luol Deng scored 22 points, Richard Hamilton added 19 and the Chicago Bulls held off a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Dallas Mavericks 93-83 on Saturday night.
Courtney Lee scored 20 points, Goran Dragic added 18 points and seven assists and the Houston Rockets snapped a six-game losing streak with a 99-96 win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night.
Elton Brand scored 20 points and Lou Williams added 19 to help the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Pacers 109-106 in overtime Saturday night, stopping Indiana’s winning streak at seven games.
With the playoffs a week away, Dwyane Wade left the Miami Heat arena Saturday night with his swollen finger in a splint — and considered himself lucky.
Dwyane Wade dislocated his left index finger in the opening minutes of the Miami Heat’s game Saturday against Washington, but he said he’ll be ready for the start of the playoffs next weekend.
Ty Lawson went 5 of 5 on 3-pointers and had 29 points and 10 assists to lead Denver to a 118-107 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday that clinched a playoff berth for the Nuggets.
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).
I’m going to try to keep the Cleveland loss in perspective. If we were to overtake Orlando, we’d have to play balls out vs. Cleveland, Atlanta and the Clippers, which could have lead to a hangover that would carry over into the playoffs. That doesn’t even mean that we win tohse games, or that Orlando loses theirs. There’s no guarantee we beat Indiana if half the key players are fighting nagging injuries.
On the other hands, when we were 18-24, and then when STAT and Lin went down, and then when Baron turned out to be fool’s gold, and when Milwaukee was surging, and when the Bulls had 4 FTs to ice the game, etc., etc., I would have signed up for just making the playoffs. So, here we are with a likely humiliating first round exit staring us in the face. After as weird of a season as a basketball team could possibly have, it is what it is, and it could have been worse. Let’s man up and get it on! Tell you one thing, an upset would be SWEET!
Based on what I saw last night, Orlando is likely to win 2 games, although they only need 1 — which will put Cavs game in perspective. We just need to TANK the remaining games and we play the bulls whose primary option is hurt and still inefficient with one of our best 2 defenders on him versus MVP Lebron and DWade. Has the MVP ever lost a 1st round series? Bulls will out rebound us…but we can can take it to 7. Miami sweeps us
In 2007, Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs to a 67 win season and received MVP honors. Our very own Baron Davis then led his Warriors to a historic upset over the Mavs in 6 games.
I understand why it would be way better to play Chicago, but IMO, tanking is simply wrong and unacceptable (to me) for a team. I would be quite disappointed if they tanked. Now I know this may be too fine a distinction to draw, but I have no problem resting starters in preparation for the playoffs, particularly if you believe that we do not need to be a so-called hot team entering the playoffs. You may think that this is a distinction without a difference and maybe it is….I just believe that if we play hard and get Miami, so be it. They are not the freaking Justice League.
On another issue, I had to agree with much of the Peter Vescey article re: Stat. I wish he would have been brought off the bench and still do.
My name is Mike Woodson. I like to stay headcoach of New York Knicks who draft me in 1980 with 12 pick. I like finish season winning the next 3 game and go 18-6.
Knicks are not going to tank any games. If we lose it’s because other team played better.
Beside against CBA rules Woodson going to keep on trying win. Not only is audition for Knicks, but also for any other headcoaching jobs.
What also been impressive under Woodson, he not lost more then 1 game in row. He hasn’t won the job yet, 18-6 looks alot more impressive then 15-9.
Agreed. Trying to lose our last 3 (which would be almost impossible anyway since we play the Bobcats) is a dangerous game. Play the games, give the starters 20 minutes or so and let the chips fall where they may. Going into the playoffs having lost 4 in a row, whether “intentional” or not, is not where you want this team to be mentally.
Lol forgot about that one…ironic!
These games need to be about working Amare back in. If they don’t get that sorted out then I donno. But I’m gonna be really pissed if come next year people fluff off the playoffs if it turns out poorly with “Amare just got back and they needed time to gel or some such excuse.”
True…but 18-6 and first round sweep looks worse than 15-9 and a competitive 1st round. I’m not saying Woodson should ask guys to miss on purpose or turn the ball over. Let’s limit minutes to Chandler and Melo and Shump and Davis and Jeffries. Work Amare back and play Toney and Bibby — that’s more important than three meaningless wins….woody will be judged on the playoffs from here on out. If we win while playing Toney and Fields big minutes and working back Amare so be it :-)
Chandler to sit today, Jeffries to sit the rest of the year.
I’m telling you: Friday=Blessing in Disguise.
Yay!
Jordan needs to get some meaningful minutes, these are the kind of games that could be useful for that.
oh wait, is he back in the D-League or not?
Game thread?