Knicks 108, Pacers 106

Ahhh. The Knicks nearly blew another close game, but just pulled one out in Indiana, winning by two. While numerous travels and backcourt violations in the final minute nearly gave the game away, Nate Robinson hit 3 of 4 clutch free throws to win it. I actually managed to catch the latter 3 quarters of this game. Game notes:

- This may have been one of the worst officiated games I've ever seen. I swear nearly every call was wrong.

- I wish Ike Diogu went to a team that was gonna play him. He got 5 minutes off the bench, but I think that kid could be something given the minutes.

- I'm sure you've heard me rip on Bruce Bowen and Paul Pierce, but Mike Dunleavy is definitely an outside shot for my least favorite player in the NBA.

- Did you know that Isiah, Mark Aguirre, and Herb Williams were all in the same (1981) draft class? I did not.

- Marbury did something to his leg last night against the Nets, and did something more tonight. He was in quite a bit of pain, and was icing down his left knee on the bench. Don't be surprised to be hearing about this by tomorrow morning.

- Do you think that when Europe was writing "The Final Countdown", they envisioned it being played in every single clutch setting of every basketball game in the country?

"Vad är basketboll? "Låta oss gå äta något Swedish Fish."
- Curry only had 1 rebound, but looked more like himself with 26 efficient (10-12) points, even in foul trouble.

- My face turns bright red during Knicks games. It used to happen just at the Garden, but now I can be alone in my home and be bright red by the final buzzer.

- David Lee led the Knicks with 44 minutes, and dropped 20 and 16, walloping Jeff Foster (6 and 3 in 19 minutes) for the crown of MVFFRWG (Most Valuable Fan-Favorite Rebounding White Guy).

Suck it, Jeffrey.
- After the opening night embarassment, Isiah said that the Knicks would get revenge on Indiana. Considering that this was a real sacktap of a loss for the Pacers, I think Zeke got what he wanted.

Anyway, it was far from perfect, but the Knicks finally closed a game. The schedule gets tough this week, as they face a formidable Suns sandwich on some Miami Heat bread (that's MIA, PHO, MIA for those of you too dense for my poetic skillz). Back tomorrow with some Lookalikes. Peace.

Knicks-Pacers Tonight

First of all, a few things about the Nets game.

- Maybe Channing should stop shooting at halftime, and Crawford should start shooting at halftime? Maybe?

- Curry Mittens had 11 boards, but missed the biggest one at the end. He also only took 7 shots and had 4 turnovers. I promised myself I wouldn't cry.

- Man, both of those final possessions in both of the last two heartbreakers were kinda rough. Both times, the defense really held up until the last second. On Wednesday, Curry helped out too soon, leaving Butler open. Last night, Curry couldn't quite box out Splifford Robinson, who got the tip-in.

- As you could tell by last night's post, I was pretty distraught after the game. I went downstairs and watched the T-Wolves lose to the Pistons in 2OT after a glorious show without Kevin Garnett, though. That made me feel a little better. (Speaking of Garnett, does he ever win fights? Remember when Anthony Peeler elbowed him in the face?)

Alright, onto tonight's game. The Knicks get to show their real resiliency, as they face the new-look Pacers the night after a draining loss (although I did hear Kenny Smith on TNT say that back-to-backs were easier than normal games). I think I've been hexing the Knicks by saying that these games are important, so I'll go ahead and tell you that this Pacers game is totally meaningless. So there. Pay attention to the battle of David Lee against Jeff Foster. Whether or not these guys are guarding each other, it's gonna be a fucking war for rebounds around the basket.

David Lee, you have met your match.
One more thing. As a few people have noticed, I tend to miss a lot of games, even important ones, on the weekends. The fact is that I've gotta get out of the house sometimes, and weekends are the time to do it. I often cut things short or skip out on people so I can watch at least SOME of every game, but I apologize for what I miss. I really do try. And I always watch Knicks in 60 if they end up winning. On that note, I wouldn't be surprised if I missed quite a bit of the game tonight. I implore any of you who are watching these games to get on the comments section and spill your thoughts. I might even start calling these things Game Threads, to really get that across. This is Your New York Knicks, everybody. I wanna know what you think.


Go Knicks. Peace.

Nets 101, Knicks 100

Ugh. I'm not in much of a mood to recap. I caught most of the second quarter and the fourth quarter. This sucks. We'll talk tomorrow.

Knicks-Nets Tonight

And here it is. My least favorite team on the planet, the New Jersey Nets, come to the Garden tonight to take on the Knicks, who are probably still reeling from their painful loss to the Wizards. The Nets' best center is Mikki Moore (read: sucks ass), so Curry's gotta step up his game from his shit performance on Wednesday. The Kidd-Marbury matchup is always fun to watch.

Anyway, I'm gonna try and catch as much of this game as I can, and I'll certainly hit up the Knicks in 60 if they win the thing. Recap of whatever I see coming lataz. Go Knicks. Peace.

Knicks-Wizards Crumbs

A few links floating around the internet after last night's heartbreaker...

-When the game is tight the Knicks should definitely play Marbury, Crawford, Lee, Curry, and...who? Brian Cronin at Knickerblogger wonders.

- The Bullets Forever recap of last night's game

- Isiah doesn't appear to be looking at any deals. I think that's good.

- From J.E. Skeets at the Fanhouse, Mark Cuban wants a "Hoops Day in America". Every day is Hoops Day at Your New York Knicks.

That's it. Nets tomorrow, kids. Peace.

EDIT: If checking out my visitor stats is your cup of tea, note that my Site Meter is about 9 hours slow. Don't let the small numbers deceive you, I got mad visitorz.

Wizards 99, Knicks 98

Ohh it hurts. Well I guess it was time. The Knicks have had their share of dramatic wins...I suppose they were due for a dramatic loss. Oh well. The Knicks turned a 14 point deficit into a 1 point lead with 12 seconds remaining (on a Crawford leaner), but a defensive breakdown led Caron Butler to put in a game-winning dunk for the Wiz. QRich was fantastic with 35 points and 10 rebounds, while Caron Butler led Washington with 27 and 10. Game notes:

- Arenas had on some bright green Gil Zero's in the first half, but switched to blue ones after the break. He had a pretty boring game.

- Jared Jeffries heard some pretty vociferous boos from the Verizon Center crowd. Why? I don't remember the departure being messy, or him having any issues with teammates.

Gilbert welcomes Jared back to D.C. with a hearty dry hump.
- In the first quarter, Steph picked up a tech for arguing, and Isiah immediately went up to the ref and started mouthing off. He even seemed to implore the ref to T him up too. And he got it. It's a nice gesture to stick up for your guy, but enough is enough, man.

- David Lee had a sick bank shot tip-in at the end of the first half buzzer.

- Gus Johnson is hilarious. Q had a nice tip-in off a Curry miss, and Gus all but shit his pants, belting out a startling "BAWW!" that nearly broke my television. Gotta love that enthusiasm...

Easy there, buddy.
- Curry just looked tiiiired. He was playing most of the first half just like his early-season self...the same type of play that made me start calling him "Mittens". If he falls into a slump, I'm gonna be so sad.

- GJ pointed it out, but Caron Butler has an offensive game very similar to Carmelo Anthony's. He likes to square up, measure the shot, and then release it lightning-quick in the defender's face. He looked awesome.


- Crawford had one of the shittiest games I've ever seen. Like the last game, he hit some clutch shots, but he spent most of the game traveling and hanging up one-handed passes.

- The Wizards dancers are NAKED.

¡Dios mio!
- I doubt I'll be able to find a picture, but Kelvin Cato was sporting a full-on Andre 3000 getup, with this dark gray kinda patterned-looking suit and a vest or some shit. I only saw it briefly, but the damage was done.

- Marbury, as he's been doing, played fantastic off-the-ball D on Arenas. Everyone else kinda sucked.

Anyway, it was a painful loss for the Knicks but, now that I think about it, that might've been the first really heartbreaking loss of the season. And instead of chipping away at the big lead, and then falling back, they actually almost won the damn thing. So that's good. The Nets come across the river on Friday, and that game is enormously important. Curry's gotta bring the heat. See you tomorrow. Peace.

Knicks-Wizards Tonight

The Knicks face Roger Mason and the Wizards this evening. The game tips off at 7 o'clock D.C. time (same as here, but it sounds cool). Wizards über-blogsmith, Pradamaster, sent me some Knicks-related questions for his blog, Bullets Forever. My answers are over there. Two can play that game, so I sent him some questions of my own. Here's what he had to say:

Your NYK: Gilbert Arenas keeps making bold predictions and turning his back on airborne game-winners, but he always pulls through. When and if Gil misses one of these ballsy shots, how are Washington fans going to react?

Bullets Forever: First off, I don't think he's going to miss unless teams try to double team him at the end of games, but I'm sure he'll pull a Matt Hasselbeck at least once and fail to pull through on a guarantee. I'm guessing Wizards fans will probably gasp in shock if Arenas misses agame-winning shot. It's become that much of a certainty.

On a slightly different note, none of Arenas' game-winning shots have been the difference between a win and a loss. Not once have the Wizards turned to Arenas to hit the game-winner when they're trailing this season. Arenas' game winners against the Bucks and Jazz were both with the game tied. I know he had that shot in the playoffs last year, but it'll be interesting to see if he has the same swag when the game is really on the line.

YNYK: Who's the second banana on this team: Butler or Jamison? Or are they of equal significance?

BF: Butler is the second banana, no question. In the midst of all the Arenas hoopla, Butler is having a monster season. He's upped his scoring average to nearly 21 points per game, and he's grabbing over 8 rebounds, an astounding number for a small forward. More importantly, Butler is the only man in the starting lineup other than Arenas that can always be relied on to create his own shot. That's really important, especially in the Wizards' offense.

Jamison has really become a glorified third option at this point. He gets most of his points on spot up jumpers and those funky looking floaters in the lane. I recently wrote about how there's no way Jamison deserves the type of minutes he gets, and while he's still an important piece, it's impossible to argue that he's more valuable than Caron.

YNYK: Have you gotten to see any Andray Blatche? Before he got shot, I thought he might be a sleeper from that draft class.

BF:I've argued many times for more playing time for Blatche, but he's still very raw and makes a ton of mental errors. However, this is what you should expect from a high-school player who was shot only a year ago. The Wizards lack a real spark off their bench, which is proving to be a real shortcoming. Blatche is the only player who can really provide that, and he doesn't need to play much to potentially make an impact. The problem is that Eddie Jordan yanks him too quickly when he makes a mistake, which is the wrong way to go. Blatche ideally should be playing 10-15 minutes a game behind Jamison.

YNYK: If you got to vote one player (and their contract) off of the Wiz, who would it be?

BF: Jarvis Hayes. No question. Many Wizards fans would say Brendan Haywood, but his production is not bad considering his price tag and the price tag of comparable centers on the open market (see Samuel Dalembert, Nene). With Hayes, however, it's really time for him to go. He takes ill-advised shots on offense and doesn't do enough defensively to merit the time he gets. The Wizards are forced to play him simply because they have nobody else. Hayes is shooting below 40 percent, yet still frequently launches 10 shots a game, many of them contested. He's done with his rookie contract after this season, and I really hope Ernie Grunfeld will let him go and use his money to sign a more defensive-oriented wing backup.

YNYK: Finally, where would you rank the Wizards among Eastern Conference teams? Are they contenders to go deep?

BF: The Wizards have the potential to beat anyone in the East, but because of the nature of their game, they can also lose to anyone in the East. They're going to benefit heavily from the East's suckiness, because only Cleveland would really give them trouble in a playoff series. I'd probably rank them behind Cleveland and Detroit at this point, but there?s little separating them from those teams and the teams behind them (e.g. Chicago, Orlando, Indiana). If they get a good draw, there?s no reason they can?t reach the ECF, but a bad draw can doom them to another first-round exit.

Neato. Muchas gracias to Pradamaster for hooking that up. Anyway, it's a big, big game tonight. The Knicks have been iffy on the road, and the Wiz are a hot team that shot the lights out in their last meeting. I'll recap after the game (which is the ideal time to recap). Go Knicks. Peace.

Knicks-Kings Crumbs

I had a longer post, but my computer kinda crashed, so I've gotta start over. The abbreviated version:

-An article on David Lee's rebounding from the Star Ledger

- More on Lee at Knickerblogger.

- Not Knicks related, but this post at Yay Sports made me laugh so hard I think I strained something. I'm day-to-day.

- One last thing. A while back, I pointed out (mockingly), the blue pin that Isiah Thomas has been wearing. Turns out I had no reason to mock, because this pin represents Autism Speaks, a research organization. I read this a few weeks ago, and meant to mention it, and a reader finally reminded me today. Isiah has done a great deal of charitable work for this organization. So, my apologies.

- Some love for Stephon from the Big Lead over at the Fanhouse (which is the shit). Solid points. Mr. Marbury's been playing like a healthy, well-adjusted point guard over the last few. As Clyde would say, he's got some pep in his step.

That's all for today. The Knicks are in Washington tomorrow, which is a huuuuuge statement game for this up-and-down team. See you then. Peace.

Knicks 102, Kings 97

OK, so I've tried about 12 different opening sentences, and I'm just gonna be straightforward and say that the Knicks played the Kings today, and it's also Martin Luther King Day, and there's a joke somewhere in there. If you find it, let me know. Either way, the Knicks outlasted the Kings in a very exciting battle, that featured 29 lead changes and 20+ point outbursts from Marbury, Curry, Kevin Martin, and Shareef.

The closing minute was particularly exciting. Crawford and Lee put the Knicks up by one with a haphazard runner and a pair of free throws, respectively (I probably didn't need to say respectively. You coulda guessed which was which). Shareef neé Shareef countered with a slick hook shot. Crawford came the other way and hit ANOTHER stupid runner. Then, Corliss Williamson pretty much iced it by setting an illegal screen out of bounds, allowing NY to regain possession and finish it with free throws.

Very exciting. The Traveling Pants (get it? Knickerbockers?) head to Washington on Wednesday to take on Gilbert Arenas and the streaky Wizards. Should be a good one.

Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, it is Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. Dr. King would be turning 77 today. I urge everyone who hasn't already to take a little time to read something about him or by him. King's autobiographical account of his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, Stride Toward Freedom, is what I believe to be one of the most interesting and inspiring works I've ever encountered. I'll leave you today with a little passage:

" Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. Without persistent effort, time itself becomes an ally of the insurgent and primitive forces of irrational emotionalism and social destruction. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action"

Backatcha tomorrow, kids. Peace.

EDIT: Gilbert Arenas dropped 51 today. I love this guy.

Knicks-Kings Tomorrow

I'm not gonna be around when the Kings come to town tomorrow afternoon, so I'll preview the damn thing right now. The last game between these two teams was fairly shitty for the 'Bockers. Even though Brad Miller got tossed early on, Ron Artest was ridiculously hot from the field, dropping a career high 39. I wouldn't expect Artest to put on that same kind of performance again, but you never know with Ron-Ron.

Anyway, look for Mittens to have a big game (seems like I say that a lot, eh?). Brad Miller plays defense about as frequently as he dresses nicely*, and Kenny Thomas and Corliss Williamson are like a combined 4'3''. Bring it, big man.

*(Never)
I'll be back tomorrow afternoon. Go nuts with some comments if you see the game, cause I ain't gonna catch a second of it. Go Knicks. Peace.

Sunday Lookalikes

Eric Snow vs. Sam Cooke



Good Times!