Philadelphia 76ers vs New York Knicks
Sunday March 11th 12:00 P.M. ET
The Knicks look to end their 4 game losing streak in a Sunday matinee against division leading and rival Philadelphia 76ers. Tyson Chandler is probable, while Jared Jeffries will again be out of action. This will be the second of three meetings between the Knicks and 76ers. The Knicks won the first meeting in a defensive struggle, 85-79, and will play one final time in Philadelphia on March 21st. Philadelphia enters the game on a 2 game winning streak, hoping to increase their division lead over the Knicks. The 76ers have a young athletic team and the Knicks have to match their intensity and energy in an early start if they hope to come out with a win and the end of their losing streak. This game has the potential to be ugly because of the early start so whichever team adapts to the changes will come out on top.
-Have To Play Defense
The return of Tyson Chandler will undoubtedly help the Knicks on the defensive end of the court. The Knicks have been beaten up in the paint without the presence of Chandler in the middle, giving up 110 points in the paint during the process. The Knicks were also out-rebounded by a total of 15 rebounds in the 2 games without Chandler. The 76ers will be without starting Center Spencer Hawes again, meaning the Knicks should be able to attack the middle of the 76er defense. The Knicks out-rebounded the 76ers 46-37 in the first meeting and another dominant performance like that should result in a Knicks win along with more urgency being shown on the defensive end of the court.
-Point Guard Play
Point Guards have been getting up to play against Jeremy Lin and the Knicks recently. According to ESPN Stats & Information, seven of the last eight starting point guards the Knicks have gone against have scored more than their season averages for points. Here is the list of Point Guards the Knicks have gone up against.
Brandon Jennings: 25 (18.9)
Tony Parker: 32 (19.5)
Jason Kidd: 15 (5.6)
*Rajon Rondo: 18 (13.6)
Kyrie Irving: 22 (18.3)
Mario Chalmers: 8 (10.8)
Jeff Teague: 18 (12.4)
Deron Williams: 38 (22.0)
* - Rondo also had 20 assists and 17 rebounds
The 76ers have the up-and-coming Jrue Holiday as their starting Point Guard, who is no slouch. Jeremy Lin is not the best defender in the NBA, but the rest of the Knicks have to do their part and help out in stopping the opposing point guards. The Knicks help defense at the rim has to become more consistent, which should be aided by the return of Tyson Chandler.
-Bench Play
The Knicks bench had been playing well before injured to Tyson Chandler and Jared Jeffries caused changes to be made to the rotation. Steve Novak has provided consistent 3 point shooting off the bench, but the Knicks have struggled to find contributions from anyone else on a consistent basis. J.R. Smith has been inconsistent and Iman Shumpert seems to have hit a rookie wall of sorts, playing only 5 minutes in the game against Milwaukee. Baron Davis is starting to round into shape, and the Knicks better hope it it happens soon because they will need it against Philadelphia. The 76ers sport one of the best benches in the NBA, led by team leading scorer Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young. Young center Nikola Vucevic, who the Knicks had their eyes on with their pick in this years past draft, is also starting to come on for the 76ers. The Knicks have to mach their intensity if they have any chance of winning.
Final Score: Knicks 105 Spurs 118
Another lackluster performance for the Knicks tonight in San Antonio. Right from the outset of the game the Spurs set the tone of the game behind the play of Tony Parker, who finished with 32 points and 6 assists. Parker was able to get into the paint at will and picked apart the Knicks, basically putting the game away with 23 first half points. The Knicks were able to make a couple of runs, but were unable to sustain anything worthwhile, leading to a lopsided win for the Spurs.
-No Defense For Knicks without Chandler and Jeffries
Tyson Chandler was a surprise scratch from the game tonight with a hamstring injury and Jared Jeffries sat out after sustaining a sore knee in the previous game in Dallas. Josh Harrellson picked up the start in place of Chandler. Without these two the Knicks lacked any intensity on the defensive side of the ball. The Spurs waltzed into the pain at will with the Knicks seeming to have no intentions of stopping them, evident by the 60 points the Spurs had in the paint. With Amar'e being the main guy on defense playing against the pick-and-roll with Lin, the Spurs were able to pick apart the Knicks. Amar'e on multiple occasions left Lin out to dry, giving Parker free lanes to the basket. The Knicks were also out-rebounded by 10 and could not match up with the intensity of the Spurs.
-Lack of Offensive Cohesion
Carmelo Anthony bounced back from one of his worst performances against Dallas with a 27 point effort to lead the Knicks. Jeremy Lin chipped in 20 and Amar'e Stoudemire and J.R. Smith both scored 18, but you never would have guessed it from watching the game. The Knicks shot 42.7% from the field compared to the 54.1% shot by the Spurs. The Knicks were never able to build a consistent attack on the offensive end, relying too heavily on jump-shots. They are at their best when they are attacking the basket opening up easy shots for Stoudemire and Anthony. One positive was the Knicks were able to convert their forced turnovers into baskets, scoring 24 points off 17 Spurs turnovers compared to the 11 points scored off 10 Knick turnovers for the Spurs.
-Another PG Controversy on the Horizon?
While Jeremy Lin did score 20 points, he again struggled with his floor game only having 4 assists and finishing the game with -12 (second worst on the team behind Stoudemire who had -21). While Baron Davis did not score, going 0-7 from the field, he did hand out 8 assists off the bench finishing the game +3. Once Davis gets back into game shape and gets more into the flow of NBA action his shooting should improve, which in-turn means more points for the Knicks. Once that happens, if it ever does, there could be very real chance of him supplanting Lin. Whether it is the players they are surrounded with, or the fact Lin is playing real minutes for the first time in his NBA career, the Knicks seem to be a more cohesive, well oiled machine when Davis is running the show.
New York Knicks vs. San Antonio Spurs
Wednesday, March 7th 8:30 ET on MSG
After dropping the last two against the Celtics and Mavericks, the road does not get any easier tonight in San Antonio against the Spurs. The Knicks are on the second night of a back-to-back while San Antonio should be well rested, last playing Sunday afternoon losing to the Denver Nuggets. Here are some things to watch for in tonight’s game.
Changes to the Starting Lineup?
-The starting lineup has been playing lackluster and uninspired basketball since the all-star break, putting the team in a whole right from the beginning sometimes too deep to recover from. Sluggish play from superstar Carmelo Anthony and a wearing down Jeremy Lin have contributed to the slow starts. Landry Fields also has not been playing well, seeing his minutes cut drastically with the addition of JR Smith and the emergence of Iman Shumpert and Steve Novak off the bench. So is tonight the night Mike D’Antoni finally makes a change to jumpstart the starting five? There are rumblings that a days after saying he will not shake up the lineup, that that is in fact what will be done. Iman Shumpert is expected to take over the starting Shooting Guard spot tonight for Landry Fields. This should help kick-start the Knicks earlier in games because of the intensity and energy that Shumpert brings to the game, especially on the defensive end of the court.
Pick and Roll Defense
-The Mavericks thrived against the Knicks in pick and roll situations. Jason Kidd was knockdown like normal from deep, going 3-6 and scoring a season high 15 points and dishing out 6 assists. Dirk Nowitzki also did his thing, scoring 28 points. The pick and roll defense will have to improve, and it starts with Jeremy Lin. For everything positive that Lin has brought the Knicks, he also comes with some negatives. One of those is his lateral quickness on defense. Lin at times seems he would have trouble guarding a garbage can. Opposing Point Guards have torched the Knicks in recent games, from Deron Williams scoring 38 to Rajon Rondo’s historic triple double, making Tony Parker who the Knicks should key in on tonight’s game. The Spurs are a lot like the Knicks in the offense they run, mostly pick-and-rolls-and-space-out offense, currently sitting 2nd in the NBA in 3point shooting percentage (39.6) and 3rd in makes (299). One thing the Knicks should stop doing to improve their defense is stop switching on the pick-and-rolls. The Knicks have a habit of switching at almost every opportunity, no matter which players are that are switching, which causes terrible match-ups for them. You will notice multiple times throughout the game Iman Shumpert or Jeremy Lin getting stuck guarding big-men on switches leading to easy baskets for the opposing team. Switching on defense is a good tactic when used sparingly and in certain situations, not as the game-plan.
When Will We See The Old Carmelo Anthony?
-The Knicks have to make it a point to get their struggling and seemingly disgruntled superstar more involved in not only the offense, but the game as a whole. Carmelo usually has big games after poor ones throughout the season. When he scored 13 points on Dec. 28 against the Warriors, he had 27 one night later against the Lakers. When he scored 13 points on Jan. 7 against the Pistons, he had 22 two nights later against the Bobcats. And then when he scored 12 points on Jan. 18 against the Suns, he had 35 two nights later against the Bucks. Can only hope for more of the same this time around, and hopefully another win as the Knicks are also only 1-2 in those Melo bounce back games. To get the offense moving, they need to get Melo moving. He is capable of getting easy baskets; he just has to be willing to get them. Melo thus-far has been settling for too many deep 2point shots, resulting in his worst season statistically in his career. If the Knicks want to get back to having sweet harmony on the offensive end during the beginning of Linsanity, they have to make it more of a point to get Melo involved in the offense, not have to make the offense himself.
