2016 Game Notes: Knicks 84 Spurs 94

Since this worked out well last time, I’m going with my game notes again.

1Q
Duncan & Lopez trade baskets to start the game. A battle of the fundamentalists.

The Muscles!
The Muscles!

Porzingis on Aldridge. Lama backs him up & Zinger goes for a non-shooting foul. This should be fun to watch. I’m having flashbacks to a skinny Camby going against Tim Duncan and David Robinson.

Zinger then gets the ball from Calderon & does as smooth of a finger roll as you can expect from a 20 year old 7-3 footer.

Loose ball rebound tapped to Jose by Porzingis. He’s everywhere right now.

After the time out from the Spurs, (guess who?) Porzingis knocks down another three. For a few minutes, the future is now!

Duncan gets Kristaps on the low blocks. The savvy veteran draws a foul & Zinger is headed to the bench with two whistles. Good teams do smart things. The Spurs knew the rookie had one foul and as soon as they had this matchup they got the ball to Tim.

Look at all the bad shots I've found!
Look at all the bad shots I’ve found!

Lopez tries to post up Duncan, and ends up shooting a 10 foot hook shot. With all this low-post work, I’m feeling like it’s the 90s again. Queuing up Sublime for halftime.

2Q
The Dr. Jekyll of Derrick Williams seems to have shown up today.

Oaq hits a jumper from the free throw and he’s 3-3.

Williams has Duncan on him & tries some shake & bake, but the jumper hits iron. Annnnnd now he’s Mr. Hyde.

Duncan steals the inbounds pass. Good teams … smart plays.

Leonard blocks ‘Melo and takes it away, kinda how you’d play with your pre-teen nephew. ‘Melo doesn’t run back on defense (so the over/under was game 4). Instant reply shows it to be clean.

Robin Lopez takes 3 attempts from 3 feet to finally get a bucket. Strangely I’m OK with that.

Porzingis uses his length to swat Tony Parker’s layup into the camera row.

Porzingis boxes out & gets a rebound. These two plays show his potential as an all-around player. The ability is certainly there.

HALFTIME 47-35

3Q
Good play by Porzingis denying the baseline, forcing a turnover.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Zinger reaches in for his fourth foul. Back to the bench…

Robin Lopez gets the ball at the arc & the Knicks spend what seems like 28 minutes to find an open player as the Spurs deny the ball. They actually convert on this play, but this is indicative of San Antonio. They are so good at taking you out of your offense.

Oaq with a great back door play to Grant for a dunk. Exploiting the weak side of the triangle.

The Knicks are the mouse.
The Knicks are the mouse.

Oaq steals the cross court pass, but the Knicks can’t convert. Clyde mentions that it feels the Spurs have dominated the game, but the Knicks are only a run away from being back in it. Sure, and that mouse just needs to scamper out of the snake’s grip to run away…

Another nice slashing score by Grant.

Then one by Lance Thomas.

And then Melo impersonates a bowling ball to get to the line.

Annnnd the Knicks are almost back in it 70-65. They end the quarter with a nice defensive sequence.

4Q
Knicks hit two quick baskets and are only down by 4!

Grant drives & gets the whistle. He’s been slashing to the hoop this game…

Kinda this high.
Kinda this high.

Galloway with a nice drive & a high (so high) layup off the glass.

Zinger with a quick jumper from 10 feet.

Carmelo trips over an already fallen Kristaps, and the rookie isn’t getting up. I think Zinger just broke his neck.

SUMMARY
New York had a hard time scoring. You might think they’re having a bad shooting night, but this is the Spurs. They’ve made an art form of forcing opponents to take lower percentage shots. I honestly don’t think New York has missed many open jumpers, or at least not more than normal. They’ve just had a lot more shots that either had a hand in the face, were off-balance, came from the Spurs taking away their first option with ball denial, etc.

As I said yesterday there were lots of positives to take from this. Porzingis showed a variety of ways to help the team. Galloway & Grant were effective, each in their own way.

One thing I didn’t mention is Carmelo Anthony. He had an awful shooting game (4-17, 19 points), but so did everyone not named Jerian Grant (5-8, 12 points). At this time we’ll tip our hats to the Spurs defense and Kawhi Leonard.

Knicks Morning News (2015.11.03)

  • [New York Daily News] Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony struggles late in loss to Spurs (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 06:39:19 GMT)

    The only thing Carmelo Anthony hit in fourth quarter Monday night was Kristaps Porzingis.

  • [New York Daily News] Knicks fall to Spurs at Garden, Kristaps Porzingis hurt (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 06:28:50 GMT)

    The Knicks appear to be a much better and more talented team than they were last season.

  • [New York Times] Clippers 4-0 After 102-96 Win Over Suns (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 06:15:56 GMT)

    Blake Griffin had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the unbeaten Los Angeles Clippers hung on down the stretch for a 102-96 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night.

  • [New York Times] NBA Capsules (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 06:12:41 GMT)

    LeBron James became the youngest player to reach 25,000 career points, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers past the winless Philadelphia 76ers 107-100 on Monday night.

  • [New York Times] Another Big Night for Curry, Warriors Breeze Past Memphis (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 06:09:47 GMT)

    Stephen Curry scored 21 of his 30 points in an emphatic third-quarter stretch and the reigning NBA MVP followed up his 53-point performance from three days earlier with another gem to lead the unbeaten Golden State Warriors past the Memphis Grizzlies 119-69 on Monday night.

  • [New York Times] N.B.A. Roundup: In Battle of the Hapless, the Nets Fall Short (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 05:39:24 GMT)

    The visiting Milwaukee Bucks earned their first victory of the season, 103-96, and kept the Nets winless. Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 21 points.

  • [New York Times] Rockets Silence Thunder to Finally Take Flight (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 05:33:27 GMT)

    James Harden shook off his shooting slump while Ty Lawson enjoyed his best performance of the season as the Houston Rockets rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 110-105 at Toyota Center on Monday.

  • [New York Times] Lillard Scores 34 to Rally Blazers Over Wolves 106-101 (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 05:21:32 GMT)

    The Minnesota Timberwolves cried their way through an emotional pregame tribute to fallen coach Flip Saunders and honored him with a stirring first quarter in their home opener.

  • [New York Times] King James Becomes Youngest to Assume 25,000-Point Throne (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 04:51:28 GMT)

    After becoming the youngest player in NBA history to surpass 25,000 career points on Monday, LeBron James sat in the locker room in the Wells Fargo Center with his feet in an ice bucket, an ice bag on each knee and another ice bag on his back.

  • [New York Times] Ginobili Talks His Way Into Playing, Despite Pop’s Rest Plan (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 04:33:37 GMT)

    Gregg Popovich’s plan to rest one of his veterans hit a snag.

  • [New York Times] Spurs Beat Knicks 94-84, Give Duncan Milestone Win (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 04:30:53 GMT)

    He has won more games with the Spurs than any other NBA player with one team, yet Tim Duncan doesn’t exactly know what they want from him.

  • [New York Times] Spurs 94, Knicks 84: Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony Knocks Down a Few Shots and One Teammate (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 04:12:24 GMT)

    Anthony collided with his teammate Kristaps Porzingis, who had 13 points and 14 rebounds but left with a neck strain, as San Antonio won at Madison Square Garden.

  • [New York Times] James Reaches 25,000 Career Points in Cavs’ Win Over 76ers (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 04:06:38 GMT)

    LeBron James needed one simple slam to hit another major milestone.

  • [New York Times] Harden Leads Rockets to First Win, 110-105 Over Thunder (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 03:51:35 GMT)

    James Harden scored 37 points, and the Houston Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 110-105 on Monday night for their first win of the season.

  • [New York Times] Bayless Scores 26 Points, Bucks Beat Nets 103-96 (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 03:27:33 GMT)

    Jerryd Bayless scored 26 points, Greg Monroe had 23 points and 13 rebounds and the Milwaukee Bucks beat the winless Brooklyn Nets 103-96 on Monday night for their first win of the season.

  • [New York Times] Mel Daniels, Prolific Rebounder on the Indiana Pacers in the 1970s, Dies at 71 (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 02:07:30 GMT)

    Daniels, the Hall of Fame center, led the Pacers to three American Basketball Association championships and became the leading rebounder in the league’s history.

  • [New York Post] Popovich reveals Manu Ginobili’s hard-headed Harvey moment (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 01:16:37 -0500)

    Spurs coach Gregg Popovich puts baseball on a par with poems about medieval agriculture. So he didn't watch Game 5 of the World Series — "Sports are boring,” he said. But he was asked in general terms if he ever could be talked out of removing a player who wanted to stay in a game,…

  • [New York Post] Thrilling Porzingis may be the free-agent bait Carmelo wasn’t (Tue, 03 Nov 2015 00:54:32 -0500)

    Noah Syndergaard carried a cup of beer on the way to his celebrity-row Garden seat Monday. Symbolically, the Mets' "Thor'' had moved on from baseball to drop his hammer onto basketball — just as many will do if the Knicks continue looking respectable. "Just want to watch the game,'' Syndergaard said after signing autographs and…