The up and down pattern for the Knicks continued last week as I’ve come to realize that they are who they are. They’ll probably win somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 games and most likely be a 6th seed, which is currently where they sit now (which is certainly better than last year). It just so happens that they played the 7th seeded 76ers twice last week in a home and home series, as well as a home game against Dallas.
Housekeeping:
Record: 26 – 24
Streak: W1
2nd place in the Atlantic Division
6th place in the Eastern Conference
Team Leaders:
Points: Amar’e Stoudemire, 26.3
Rebounds: Amar’e Stoudemire, 8.7
Assists: Raymond Felton, 8.9
Steals: Raymond Felton, 1.8
Blocks: Amar’e Stoudemire, 2.2
In their two meetings last year against the Mavericks, it proved to be two very strange games. First, the Knicks hosted the Mavs and lost by 50. Unfortunately, I was in attendance for that game which was the worst home loss in franchise history. But strangely enough, when the Knicks visited Dallas later in the season, they beat the Mavs by 34. It was a very unusual season series.
This year’s season series looks similar so far as Dallas handled the Knicks comfortably 113 – 97 but led by as many as 24. With the loss of Caron Butler, the Mavs aren’t that legit anymore, so this one confuses me. Not only were they without Butler, but Dirk isn’t himself. He’s still visibly hobbled by that injury. Hobbled or not, he was still able to drop 29 points and grab 11 boards. Dallas also managed to shoot an impressive 44% from downtown (11 – 25) in this runaway win.
Then came the somewhat important home and home series against the 76ers. Coming into this series, Philly was just 3 games back of New York for the 6thseed in the East (it’s never too early to talk playoff positioning). If the Knicks got swept, then they’d have just a 1 game lead. But if they did the sweeping, they would hold a comfortable 5 game lead. So naturally, the two teams split the series with the home team winning each game.
There was an Elton Brand sighting in game one. He had 33 and 16 and the Sixers were able to pull it off 100 – 98. It was somewhat of a back and forth game as Philly led by as many as 14 and the Knicks by as many as 9. It really came down to Shawne Williams electing not to take a corner 3 with seconds remaining because a defender was running at him. Instead, he put the ball on the floor and took a very contested 2-point field goal. Williams is shooting lights out from behind the arc this year, so I liked his chances if he would’ve just shot the ball like he was supposed to.
The following night, they played again in New York where Amar’e led the way with 41 points. This one was never really in any serious doubt as Landry Fields had a season high 25 points, just in time for the ‘Melo rumors to resurface. Apparently Minnesota’s Corey Brewer is in the mix now. If Denver didn’t want O.J. Mayo, are they really going to bite on Brewer?
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
