Merry Christmas! Regardless on what presents you got today, the Knicks came through and beat the Celtics 106-104 at home to tip off the regular season.I missed all of the first half because I was busy with money, gift cards, and other miscellaneous gifts. I tuned in halfway through the game.
The Knicks led 62-52 at halftime, but in the 3rd quarter, the Celtics started dominating on offense, defense, and on the boards. At the end of the quarter, the Knicks were outscored 35-17, and were down 8.
The Knicks came back in the 4th and Carmelo Anthony made a pair of free throws to put the team up by 2 with less than a minute left. Kevin Garnett shot an awkward-looking mid-range jumper with with only seconds left in the game, but was defended well by Bill Walker and it missed. The Knicks won 106-104, but it was a nail-biter.
Melo was definitely the player of the game for the Knicks today. He finished with 37 points on 10-17 field goals to go along with 8 rebounds and 3 assists.
Amar'e Stoudemire was also a big help with 21 points on 8-11 field goals and 6 rebounds. Tyson Chandler and Toney Douglas did their parts (Douglas had 19 points and 4 assists, Chandler had 7 points and 6 blocks. Landry Fields, Iman Shumpert, and Bill Walker struggled offensively and combined for only 18 points on 6-21 field goals.
Rajon Rondo had 31 points and 13 assists in the losing effort to the Knicks.
Overall, I'm happy with the win, but the Knicks need to improve on their offensive and defensive strategies. On offensive, they sometimes seemed unsure on what they wanted to do and let in the Celts walk all over them on defense in the 3rd. Melo stepped up and led the Knicks to victory while STAT helped out a lot. Toney Douglas and Tyson Chandler also utilized themselves well. Landry Fields and Iman Shumpert both had rough games and I thought that Bill Walker was given too many minutes.
The Knicks are now 1-0 and are tied for first in the Eastern Conference.
(Photo Courtesy: Yahoo! Sports --- 'NBA: Boston at New York - Dec. 25, 2011 --- http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/games/2011122518/gallery/im:urn:newsml:sports.yahoo,getty:20050301:nba,photo,0e5e95b192762cf664cb05049888cf44-getty-136105724:1#photoViewer=urn%3Anewsml%3Asports.yahoo%2Cap%3A20050301%3Anba%2Cphoto%2Cap-201112251429521434036%3A1
Have any thoughts on the Knicks winning on Christmas? Was Renaldo Balkman the real player of the game? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.
UPDATE: Iman Shumpert, who injured himself in the game, will miss 2-4 weeks with a sprained knee.
No comments:
Post a Comment