2016-17 Game Thread: Knicks vs. Magic

The Knicks continue their little homestand here leading up to their Christmas Day game against the Boston Celtics by hosting the Orlando Magic.

The Magic are sort of like the reverse Knicks. They’re really good on defense but awful on offense. I think in matchups like that, I tend to think that the offensive team has the slight advantage in that type of match-up, but this will be an interesting exercise in seeing if that’s true or not.

I actually sort of like this Orlando team, and Vogel is doing his typical Vogel things with their defense, but boy, their roster makes no sense at all. They’re going to need to deal some players, but the problem is that everyone knows that they’re going to have to deal some players, so it doesn’t really work. I am one of the biggest anti-Rudy Gay guys out there, but I think he might actually kind of sort of make sense here. They have so much defense that they can carry his awful defense and he’s shooting just well enough to be an improvement here on offense.

Leading up to the Christmas game, I’m sharing clips from old TV Christmas Specials. Today, enjoy the absurdity of a post-divorce Sonny and Cher do terrible rock and roll arrangements of Christmas songs, along with a young (and smoking hot) Bernadette Peters and…Captain Kangaroo?! Chaz Bono is in it, too, back when he was Chastity Bono (Cher sings to her kid with her NEW husband in the video! It’s so freaking weird!)

Let’s go, Knicks!e

Knicks Morning News (2016.12.22)

  • [ESPN] Thursday’s Knicks News: Knicks developing their own Big 3
    (Thursday, December 22, 2016 4:43:14 AM)

    Thursday’s Knicks News: Knicks developing their own Big 3

  • [ESPN] Former coach Karl lambasts Melo in new book
    (Thursday, December 22, 2016 4:33:45 AM)

    Former coach Karl lambasts Melo in new book

  • [ESPN] Derrick Rose: ‘We’re going to bring some Knicks fans back’
    (Thursday, December 22, 2016 12:34:14 AM)

    Derrick Rose: ‘We’re going to bring some Knicks fans back’

  • [ESPN] Report: Owners pass new labor deal; players up
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 4:47:09 PM)

    Report: Owners pass new labor deal; players up

  • [ESPN] This is the Knicks team Phil Jackson envisioned
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 12:35:49 PM)

    This is the Knicks team Phil Jackson envisioned

  • [NYDN] How far can the Knicks’ new Big 3 take the franchise? We ask them
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 7:26:18 PM)

    The Knicks are undeniably bringing a more exciting brand of basketball to the Garden these days.

  • [NYDN] Knicks’ Derrick Rose says he wants no part of the All-Star Game
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 11:04:12 AM)

    Derrick Rose is happy to be appreciated for who he is today — not who he was five years ago.

  • [NY Newsday] Derrick Rose wants to reward Knicks fans
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 8:04:16 PM)

    Derrick Rose feels appreciated by Knicks’ fans and believes some have and more will jump on this team’s bandwagon. Rose wants to make the playoffs for all of them.

  • [NYTimes] Keeping Score: Led by Rockets, N.B.A. Is Shooting Even More 3-Pointers
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 6:31:03 PM)

    Three teams are on a pace to break the record for 3-pointers attempted per game in a season, and one of them is the Nets.

  • [NYTimes] On Pro Basketball: Joakim Noah Gives Knicks Hope After Disappointing Start
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 9:01:17 PM)

    The center, who signed a four-year, $72 million deal over the summer but is averaging only 4.7 points in 21.5 minutes a game, showed promising signs on Tuesday.

  • [NYTimes] Tragedy Made Steve Kerr See the World Beyond the Court
    (Thursday, December 22, 2016 10:01:03 AM)

    The Golden State Warriors coach draws from the assassination of his father to make sense of a complicated world.

  • [SNY Knicks] Owners approve new NBA labor deal; players to vote Friday
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 10:10:00 PM)

    A new labor deal in the NBA is on the verge of being finalized, after owners voted Wednesday to approve a proposed seven-year collective bargaining agreement that was tentatively agreed to last week.

  • [SNY Knicks] Rose helped key Knicks’ comeback win over Pacers
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 12:15:28 PM)

    Carmelo Anthony might have stolen the show with his explosive fourth quarter by dropping bombs from long range, but it was Rose who made the biggest splash against the Pacers.

  • [SNY Knicks] Westchester Knicks trade Cleanthony Early in deal for Courtney Fells
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 11:55:04 AM)

    The Westchester Knicks have traded forward Cleanthony Early in a deal for Courtney Fells.

  • [SNY Knicks] Porzingis’ salary increases with new CBA
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 9:30:55 AM)

    The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement will increase Kristaps Porzingis’ salary on the last two years of his rookie deal, along with potentially lining him up for a massive max contract in 2019.

  • [SNY Knicks] Ndour, Plumlee recalled from Westchester
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 10:00:26 AM)

    The New York Knicks have recalled center Marshall Plumlee and forward Maurice Ndour from Westchester.

  • [NYPost] George Karl rips ‘user’ Carmelo Anthony in upcoming book
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 9:15:58 PM)

    Former Nuggets coach George Karl took a series of personal shots at Carmelo Anthony in an upcoming memoir, claiming Anthony was “a conundrum,’’ a user, not a leader and unwilling to share “the spotlight’’ or play defense during their six years together. Karl also took aim in “Furious George’’ at former Nuggets, and ex-Knicks, J.R….

  • [NYPost] Don’t look now: Knicks developing their own Big 3
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 4:43:10 PM)

    OK, they’re not Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish or LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh for that matter. But the potential and abilities of the Knicks’ Big 3 alignment of Carmelo Anthony, Derrick Rose and Kristaps Porzingis are taking shape, coming into focus. And with them, so are the Knicks. And with…

  • [NYPost] Amy Schumer and Chris Rock turn out for the Knicks
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 9:23:33 AM)

    Lots of laughs at MSG last night, and this time they didn't weren't at the Knicks' expense.

  • [NYPost] Courtney Lee is the key to unlocking Knicks’ 3-point potential
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 9:07:51 AM)

    The Knicks beat the Pacers on Tuesday at the Garden with their 3-point shooting – something that should be, but isn’t yet, part of their team identity. The Knicks shot 56.5 percent from 3-point land: 13-of-23. Carmelo Anthony shot 7-of-11. Kristaps Porzingis was 4-of-7. Neither of those two Knicks stars is the team’s best 3-point…

  • [NYPost] Inside the Knicks’ unsolvable Derrick Rose problem
    (Wednesday, December 21, 2016 7:20:25 AM)

    Tom Thibodeau never came close to becoming the Knicks coach, even as he was the highest-profile free-agent coach not coaching last year. He wound up in Minnesota, and it’s been fun seeing him and his ultra-Type-A personality adjust to the Timberwolves, composed of some of the league’s most talented (and headstrong) youngsters. Thibodeau never worked…