Well it’s hard to believe the Knicks were competitive in this game, but for a half they were right in it. Ironically as a team, they didn’t start off that well. Kanter seemed to forget that “pivot foot” is a thing in basketball. NBA Superstar Michael Beasley sprained his ankle 36 seconds into his initial court appearance, right before he could drop 40 points on Oklahoma. Ntilikina threw up at least two airballs by my alcohol soaked account. If he clangs one off the rim in game 2, it’ll be an improvement. On one possession the Knicks missed like 3 dunks/layups.
However there was a bright spot in the first half. Kristaps entered Godzingis mode. He had 19 first half points on 12 shots with 8 boards. KP blocked an early Carmelo Anthony layup, which if the game was in MSG would have set the crowd on fire. And there was that one crafty possession where he dribbled and spun and ended up with a layup, which the TNT crew replayed 4 or 5 times.
Oh and speaking of Melo, he looked rusty on offense. He missed a ton of first half shots, and even wasted the clock on one possession leading to a 24 second violation. Although he seemed a little active on defense, maybe that’s what playing for a reach coach/team does to him?
I blinked to start the third quarter, and the Knicks were down like a dozen points. Then it was 20. The turbo button on Zinger was broken, as he turned mortal after the break. Looking back it was clear that he was a one man show. He had some nice feeds for Kanter, and the two actually played well together. But the Knicks were missing that second guy. (Paging Tim Hardaway Jr. Paging Tim Hardaway Jr.)
More Thoughts:
* What’s up with Ron Baker hitting 3 of 7 free throws? He was an 80% shooter in 4 years of college, but was only 65% last year. Isn’t this supposed to be the year he becomes an NBA player by improving his shooting efficiency?
* By the end, 4 of the starting 5 had horrible +/-:
Kristaps Porzingis -17
Enes Kanter -22
Courtney Lee -22
Ramon Sessions -23
* Tim Hardaway Jr. only managed 8 points on 10 shots.
* Hernangomez and Dotson only saw garbage time, which needs to change. This team is about youth, not winning.
EDIT: Found the block!
