Tag: knicks

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New York Sports

Tim Hardaway Jr Creates Good Headache For Knicks’ Coach

Tim Hardaway Jr. has impressed as a rookie — so much so, he played nearly the entire fourth quarter Thursday night against the Bulls, one of the teams the Knicks figure to be fighting and clawing with for favorable playoff seedings.

But on the horizon looms J.R. Smith, who will serve the third leg of his five-game NBA-imposed suspension Sunday. When he returns, Hardaway’s minutes should take a big hit.

“It is a logjam,” coach Mike Woodson said of the perimeter spot, which both Smith and Hardaway play, along with Iman Shumpert, and often Pablo Prigioni. “That’s a good problem to have. But somebody’s not going to be able to play a lot of minutes. So they’ve just got to understand that. When you get your opportunity, you’ve got to make the most of it to help us.”

Hardaway is trying to do just that. In 42 minutes over two games, he has averaged 7.5 points and made 3 of 7 3-pointers.

“In the Chicago game, Tim stepped up,” Woodson said. “He’s a young kid that’s poised.”

“His confidence is sky high,” Carmelo Anthony said. “His work ethic. How much time he puts in. It pays off and shows when he gets on the basketball court.”

Hardaway credits Woodson’s faith for that soaring confidence.

“Coach said before the [Bulls] game, ‘People that are playing well are going to stay on the court and here’s an opportunity to play,’ ” said Hardaway, who hit a 3-pointer that launched the Knicks’ fourth-quarter rally and feels he has shown “heart” to the staff. “Once I heard that, just tried to take advantage, just tried to do the little things: play defense, run the floor hard, box out, defend on the low post.”

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Sports

Pacers vs Knicks: Congratulations to the Referees

I went to a sports bar to watch the game. And at the end of the game, someone summed it up perfectly with this phrase:

Congratulations Pacers, the refs played a great game for you.

That’s all I have to say about the game.

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Sports

New York Knicks Win – Lives To Play Another Day

It’s back to Indiana on Saturday, as the Pacers failed to end the Knicks season at Madison Square Garden. Or maybe it was the Knicks failing to go down in front of the home crowd. Either way, the Knicks began the game with two baskets by Carmelo Anthony and New York kept the lead for the rest of the game.

Final score was Knicks 85, Pacers 75.

Knicks were still out rebounded by 3 in this game (43-40), but they were more desperate for the win and played with a sense of urgency they missed in game 4. The spark for the Knicks tonight came from Copeland, who played 19 minutes but was automatic from the three-point line.

Copeland 13 points, 9 of those points coming from beyond the three-point arch. He pulled down 4 rebounds and had 2 steals.

Anthony led all scoring with 28 points.

Indiana leads the series 3 games to 2. Game six is scheduled for Saturday in Indiana.

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Sports

Pablo Prigioni Wins Game 2 For Knicks

With 4:15 remaining in the third quarter, Indiana Pacers took their first lead in game 2 of their second round playoffs against the New York Knicks. Up until that point, the Knicks controlled the game, at one point leading by as much as 13 points. But with pain and grimacing looks on his face, Carmelo Anthony managed to score a few baskets, even a dunk, igniting the rest of his team to follow-suit.With baskets from Smith, Kenyon Martin and Chandler, Knicks ended the quarter on a 10-2 run, to start the fourth quarter leading 72-66.

Pablo Prigioni started the fourth for Carmelo, bringing some much needed energy and defense. He also brought scoring, hitting a three pointer the first time he touched the ball and then a running field goal on the Knicks next possession. The Garden erupted, bringing a decibel level not heard much in the entire game. Prigioni was all over the place, getting rebounds in the paint, bringing up the ball and finding Carmelo on the three point line for a well needed three pointer. The Pacers resorted to being spectators as Melo and the gang went on a 20-0 run, extending the lead to 90 – 66.

With 4:55 remaining in the game, the Knicks brought on the Bench players. Being up 24 points with under 5 minutes remaining is a pretty good place to be, and Melo the rest of the team heard the cheers from the fans for a job well done.

The final score was Knicks 105, Pacers 79.

Pablo Prigioni was definitely the reason the Knicks won this game. He played a total of 21 minutes, but scored the biggest 10 points of the game. He also had 4 rebounds with 1 assist.

Knicks were led by Carmelo with 32 points, followed by Shumpert with 15. Felton had 14, followed by Prigioni and Martin both with 10.

For Indiana, P. George led the way with 20 points, followed by D. West who contributed 13. Hill was the only other Pacer player in double figure with 12 points. Indiana scored only 13 points in the fourth quarter.

Game 3 would be in Indiana on Saturday.

 

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Sports

Garden Chants “These Refs Suck” As Knicks Lose to Pacers

“These Refs Suck! These Refs Suck!” That was the main chant heard at the Garden on Sunday as the New York Knicks played against the Indiana Pacers. The chant was due to the seemingly unnecessary calls made against the Knicks, calls that put Carmelo Anthony, J. Smith, K. Martin and T. Chandler in foul trouble early in the game.

After three quarters of play, the Pacers led 81-65. Indiana had six players already in double figures compared to just three players for the Knicks. The third quarter also ended with Knicks leading scorer, Carmelo Anthony sitting on the bench, nursing his four fouls.

That is how the Knicks started round two of the NBA Playoffs against the Pacers. They played with no urgency, almost as if their first round win against Boston was their ultimate goal. Yes, the Boston win was just two days ago, but for the first three quarters, it was apparent that the Knicks were still celebrating advancing to round two.

Carmelo started the fourth quarter playing with his four fouls and scored six quick points for the Knicks. But he quickly picked up his fifth foul with 10 minutes remaining in the game. And after a 1 for 10 performance to that point, J. Smith hit a three pointer to get the crowd back into the game.

When ,,,, foul out of the game, the Garden crowd resorted to a chant they’d been saying practically the whole game… “these refs suck!”

The quarter went by quickly. With 4:41 left in the game, Indiana led by 14. Knicks had missed their last eight shots before Smith scored a running field goal. It was the Smith and Carmelo show and the lead was down to 8 with 3 minutes remaining, but that show was short lived as the Pacers held their own and won the game with a score 102-95.

Indiana went to the free throw line 24 times making 19, and out rebounded the Knicks 42 to 30. They out played the Knicks on the offensive board also, grabbing 10 compared to the Knicks 6.

D. West led the Pacers with 20 points, followed by P. George with 19. Four other Pacer players had double digit scoring.

For the Knicks, Carmelo had 27 points, followed by Felton with 18. Three other players had double digit scoring.

Game 2 will be in New York on Tuesday, May 7th.

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basketball Boston Sports

New York Knicks: “Let Defence Be Your Best Offence”

“Let defence be your best offence.” That was said by Walt Clyde Frazier during the fourth quarter of the Knicks/Boston playoff game tonight, as New York scored a three off a steals from Boston. The three pointer in the final 10 minutes of the game extended the Knicks lead by 21 points, paving the way for what would eventually be a commanding win by New York.

Game 3 of the first round against Boston was played in Boston. But having the home court advantage turned out to be no advantage for Boston, as New York played one of the best defensive games they’ve played in a long time. The game ended with the Knicks stealing the ball from Boston a total of 14 times, and their suffocating defense caused Boston to turn the ball over 17 times.

The final score was Knicks 90, Boston 76. The game really wasn’t as close as the score suggests.

Carmelo Anthony led the scoring for the Knicks with another great effort, putting up 26 points in 37 minutes. Point guard Felton had an all round productive game, scoring 15 points in 35 minutes of play. He also had 2 rebounds, 10 assists and just 3 turnovers. J. Smith also had 15 points, but received a flagrant Type 2 foul and received an automatic ejection after throwing an elbow at Boston’s Jason Terry. Smith’s absence resulted in a four point play for Boston, but shots by Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler kept Boston at bay.

For Boston, J. Green led the team with 21 points in 44 minutes. Paul Pierce had 17 followed by J. Terry with 14.

New York now leads the series 3-0, with game 4 scheduled for Sunday. In the history of the NBA, no team has ever come back from being down 3 games to win a series, so chances that the Knicks will win this series are very high. Game 4 will be played in Boston at 1PM Eastern.

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Carmelo Anthony NBA Sports

And The MVP Is..

Lebron is poised to win his 4th MVP Award

The Maurice Podoloff Trophy is given to the Most Valuable Player each year in the entire NBA. This year the clear favorite to win his fourth MVP award if Miami Heat Forward Lebron James. I will not sit here and say Lebron James is not an amazing basketball player, but I do not believe he deserves the award this year. Yes, he led the Miami Heat to a franchise record 27 win streak, yes he is the most dominant player right now, and yes he is a full-fledged superstar, but he is on a team built to achieve above and beyond the known limits. He is a very important corner-stone to the team, but not the most valuable player in the league.

2008 NBA MVP Kobe Bryant

No matter what arena you see him play, no matter what team he is playing against, Kobe Bryant will always hear “M-V-P! M-V-P!” chants. Oddly enough Kobe has only won one NBA MVP award back in 2008. This year he easily deserves to be a front-runner in the MVP conversation. The horribly underachieving Lakers have been willed on by Kobe alone and even though he is now out with a season ending Achilles tear, he has gotten them into the 8th seed of the playoffs.

Clippers Guard Chris Paul

Chris Paul (a.k.a CP3) has made the Clippers the team in Los-Angeles now and for years to come. He will become the corner-stone of the new dominant west coast force that are the Clippers. Chris Paul is long due for a MVP award and after watching him this year lead the Clippers to their first division title in decades, hitting the 50 win mark for the first time since 1976, and taking the Clippers on a dominant and undefeated month of December.

New York Knick Forward Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony is poised to win his first NBA Scoring Title after this season just nudging out Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant. Over the month of April Carmelo has averaged nearly 29 points per game and lead his Knicks on a 13 game win streak that ended in Chicago. Anthony has always been an elite scorer but this season in New York he is proving to be a real MVP candidate. Over this season the Knicks were written off as “too old” but they have secured a second placed seed in the Eastern Conference and will match up against Boston in the first round (a real good game by the way).  While Carmelo’s stats are no where as nice as James or other players, his Knicks are only 6-7 without him. I would easily give him the MVP Award this year since Melo is long overdue and has clearly proven his worth.

Spurs Guard Tony Parker

Ah, Tony Parker, he was once the “dark horse” MVP candidate throughout this season. In 65 games this season, Parked has averaged 20.4 points, 7.6 assists, while shooting 52.4%, and 35.3% from beyond the arc. He has once again lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 58-23 record while securing the second place seed in the Western Conference. Earlier this season some people would’ve penciled in Parker as the favorite to win the MVP as he was and the Spurs were just on a roll. Sadly in the month of April he has dropped off due to injuries and has only played four games. No matter what though, Tony Parker is still the dark horse candidate to win MVP.

Once again, I am not putting down Lebron James and his amazing talent and ability to play the game of basketball. He is the most dominant force in basketball right now and will be for a couple more years. James though, does not deserve another MVP award as he is clearly not the most valuable player for the team compared to others. Sadly though, a fourth trophy is inevitable.

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Sports

Nose Digger Makes His National Debut At Knicks vs Trail Blazers Game

He had a great seat! Courtside, close enough to hear what the commentators were saying. A seat that was sure to set him back a few hundred dollars. And as the camera focused on Chris Webber for his opening statement, the nose digger, we’ll call him Mr. Bugga – went in for the gold.

And to cap it all off, he looked right into the camera at the end of his adventure and winked at the audience.

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