Last week I took a break from Monday’s Weekly Knicks Notes, but if I did scribe one you would’ve read me go on and on about how great the Knicks are. I would’ve bored you into unconsciousness with how they’ve turned the corner and how they can give any team a fight. Good thing I took last week off because now I’m wondering if they’re fool’s gold.
Over the past couple of seasons, the Knicks have had marquee teams invade The Garden all in the same week. They call this week Dream Week in an attempt to boost excitement. A few years ago the Lakers, Cavs and Celtics came during Dream Week. Kobe gave New York 61 and LeBron had 50 and a triple-double (they later took away a rebound from LeBron which really only left him with 9 boards so technically it wasn’t a triple-double, but the rebound was clearly his). This year’s Dream Week saw ‘Melo and the Nuggets, The Big 4 and the Celtics, and LeBron and the Heat. The New York metro area was buzzing.
Housekeeping:
Record: 16 – 12
Streak: L3
2nd in Atlantic Division
6th in Eastern Conference
Team Leaders:
Points: Amar’e Stoudemire, 26.5
Rebounds: Amar’e Stoudemire, 9.4
Assists: Raymond Felton, 9
Steals: Raymond Felton, 1.9
Blocks: Amar’e Stoudemire, 2.1
Sunday, December 12. vs. Denver Nuggets. Final score: Knicks 129 – Nuggets 125
During last year’s Dream Week, when LeBron brought his Cavs to The Garden for their only appearance of the year, the place was electric. The Yankees had just won another World Series a few days prior and the summer of 2010 was on the horizon and everyone was positive that the Knicks would land LeBron. I mean, who wouldn’t want to play in New York, right? Of all the guys that played that night, LeBron received the loudest ovation. During starting lineups, after every bucket and even at the free throw line. And if you saw the number or people who ran to get a better view of him doing his powder toss before the game started, you wouldn’t believe it. As a Knicks fan, it was nothing short of embarrassing and disgusting.
Well, guess who’s been rumored to come to New York now? Carmelo. And guess who received a similar ovation? Carmelo. Absolute lunacy. I’m still so upset that I don’t even feel like talking about the actual game – even though the Knicks won.
Wednesday, December 15 vs. Boston Celtics. Final score: Celtics 118, Knicks 116
There was a whole lot of talk leading up to this game about a rivalry. Basically, it was all drummed up by the media, as there is no Knicks/Celtics rivalry. When asked about the alleged rivalry before the game, Paul Pierce (quietly one of the best trash talkers in the league) said, “when the Knicks and Celtics have a rivalry, I won’t be in the NBA.” He’s probably right.
The Knicks were riding a 8-game win streak and the Celtics boasted one of two more. The game had a playoff feel to it and was probably one of the best games of the season this year so far. For the second time this year, the Knicks were on national TV. I can’t remember if they’ve had one over the past two seasons. Amar’e set the tone early with 17 first quart points, giving KG all he could handle en route to tying his season high of 39 points. The Knicks has this one in control for most of the game but Paul Pierce’s step-back J with 0.4 seconds left game the Celtics the lead and the eventual win. Amare’s 3-point attempt on the last play of the game provided some with false hope, but I knew that it didn’t count when the ball was still in the air. Would’ve been a great ending though.
There are no such things as moral victories in sports, but this is as close as it gets. The Knicks had every opportunity to put this one away, but such wasn’t the case as this was the biggest home game in recent memory…at least for two days.
Friday, December 17 vs. Miami Heat. Final score: Heat 113 – Knicks 91
Earlier I said that Knicks fans cheering for LeBron last year was disgusting. Well, so was the excessive booing that he received Friday night too. The boos were because he didn’t take his talents to New York last summer. Well, by booing it looked even worse because it tells LeBron how much everyone actually cares.
The Heat pulled out early and the game didn’t seem that competitive eventually. It almost looked like everyone was watching LeBron instead of playing against him. And Spike Lee was acting as if he was about to audition LeBron for “He Got Game 2.” Spike was acting as if he and LeBron were best friends even though his team was in a battle with LeBron. What a shame.
So, at this point the Knicks lost 2 in a row, but you could live with the Boston loss (I guess) and if you had to twist my arm, I can understand them losing to the Heat – but not by so many points. And their Overtime loss to Cleveland (which I’m not even going to waste time writing about ) is absolutely inexcusable. That brings the streak to 3.
General Thoughts
Quiet as kept, the Knicks are second in the league in scoring and Amar’e is second in individual scoring. He just ended his streak of nine consecutive 30+ scoring efforts; a feat that not even Patrick Ewing was able to accomplish. But their 3 game losing streak is debilitating. After reeling off 8 in a row and 14 of their last 15, it looked like they came crashing back to Earth. That Cleveland loss is a bad one. No way should they lose to the Cavs. All things considered, this team doesn’t have much time spent together so hopefully later on in the year, they can actually pull out a win against teams that are considered better than them and not lose to teams they shouldn’t
Oh yeah, and why isn’t Wilson Chandler on the All-Star ballot?
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
