Make no mistake, a home loss to the New Jersey Nets would be slightly distressing for most any team in the NBA. Few teams would be expected to lose such a contest; therefore creating a built-in expectation to win and, maybe, a bit of anxiety that sets in when things start going awry during a game which shouldn’t be that difficult.
Imagine that for any team. Imagine that for the Atlanta Hawks. Then, imagine that combined with the uncontrollable avalanche that is the Linsanity-stricken New York Knicks in front of a Madison Square Garden crowd both fueled by this new sensation and also welcoming back — nervously so — the hero of a season ago, the superstar who would accept nothing other than the white-hot New York spotlight, Carmelo Anthony. Everyone was worried about how Anthony’s iso-centric game would mesh with the wheeling-and-dealing Lin-led Knicks, and now, following that 100-92 loss to the Nets last night, we can all officially freak out (Hooray! Hooray?).
But, just as the praise for Lin came out of the gates bloated — crazily, with almost every game he has matched the ridiculous hype barometer — one can only expect that criticism for Anthony, who didn’t shoot or play well overall, will be overblown and hasty in its own right. Here then, is a list of reasons that could help in explaining the Knicks’ loss to the Nets last night, other than Carmelo Anthony Just Doesn’t Fit With The Linsanity Knicks Oh My God What Do We Do Now?
Nobody else shot all that well either.
Landry Fields shot 5-for-10 and Tyson Chandler was 4-of-5, but otherwise, along with Melo’s 4-of-11 night here’s what the other Knick notables shot from the floor:
Amar’e Stoudemire – 7-17
Jeremy Lin – 7-18
J.R. Smith – 2-8
Steve Novak – 3-10
(It should also be noted that Baron Davis snuck his return in last night too, but only shot 1-for-2.)
Deron Williams went crazy.
The All-Star took it upon himself to remind the New York area that, should he stay with the Nets next year, Brooklyn’s gonna have a decent point guard too. Eight threes — many of them looking like heat checks that just kept splashing — and 38 points total in 33 minutes of play for a night is pretty darn good. It’s always somebody’s night; last night was his.
— They lost the three-point game (See Above).
With Williams pouring ’em in, the Nets as a team shot 48 percent (15-of-31) from three. The Knicks, plain and simple were just off from deep last night, shooting close to 24 percent (5-for-21). New York’s style of play calls for a lot of deep shots to go up; here, they were outshot in both makes and attempts, largely thanks to Williams playing his hot hand. Sometimes a team catches fire, sometimes a player, and sometimes nobody. Anthony didn’t attempt a single three-ball either, just so you know.
It was one freaking game.
Anthony only shot 11 times, dished six assists (with a Knick-leading six turnovers too) in a team-high 37 minutes on the floor. This is a work in progress, folks, and Anthony — and the rest of the team — was simply out there working through it a possession at a time. For awhile, it was going pretty well, actually, until Deron Williams exploded and brought the game to the Oh Shit We Could Actually Lose This Game That Everyone Was Worried About level. That’s when the Knicks’ in-game training session turned into an actual basketball game; against a team firing at will, no less.
Again, it was one game, one game that might’ve been doomed to fail from the get-go. The next chapter in this Lin and the Knicks drama is where they learn to legitimize this stunning, potentially very dangerous novelty that has pounced on the league from an unseen tree limb above. These journeys, even Lin’s and by extension, the Knicks’ — who seemed destined for only good things many times these last few weeks — do not come without their share of hardships, or teams and players more than willing to wipe that collective smile off their face.
The Knicks will not get to where they want to go without Anthony, and Anthony will not familiarize himself with the new team he came back to until he gets the chance to come in and throw some warmup tosses around. As this happens, the Knicks’ journey at least will get a better sense of direction. But not everyone plays in New York, and for every reason that accompanies that, especially with the way this season has turned, the process cannot come fast enough.
Griffin Gotta contributes to The Hoop Doctors and is a co-managing editor of Straight Outta Vancouver. The story arcs and infinite weirdness of the NBA are addictions he deals with every day. Email him at griffingotta at gmail dot com.
