Knicks Lose OT Thriller in Brooklyn

Monday, November 26, 2012

Post Game Recap

Final Score: New York Knicks: 89 Brooklyn Nets: 96 OT

Knicks Lose Round 1 in OT Thriller

The Knicks lost the first round of the new found rivalry between them and the Nets 96-89 in an overtime thriller any basketball fan would have enjoyed.  Tonight’s game was the make-up from the season opener that was canceled because of the damage done by Hurricane Sandy.

The loss is hard enough to take, but losing Jason Kidd before the game to back spasms and then Ronnie Brewer to a dislocated finger in the fourth quarter made the loss that much harder to take. 

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The Knicks struggled mightily without Kidd, as the ball movement was not as crisp and more pressure was put upon Raymond Felton and Carmelo Anthony.  It was the first and not the last time Kidd will be out, as he isn’t making the trip to Milwaukee for Wednesday night’s game, and it showed.

Felton struggled with his shot all night, going three of 19 from the field and only getting five assists.  Deron Williams, Felton’s counterpart for the night, severely outplayed him throughout the night, as Williams struggled from the field shooting six of 17, scoring 16 points, but handed out 14 assists. 

The Nets assisted on 23 of their 37 baskets, compared to just 14 assists of 33 baskets for the Knicks.

One reason for the lack of assists was the offensive load was placed on the shoulders of Anthony and the multiple isolation situations he was placed in.  Anthony had to get open on his own and do everything basically on his own as Felton was unable to get the pick-and-roll game going.

The Nets threw everything they had at Anthony from the start, constantly double-teaming him as Anthony scored only four points in the first quarter; the first quarter Anthony has dominated all season, scoring 11 points per game in the first frame.  

Anthony heated up in the middle frames and early in the fourth quarter, as he finished with 35 points on 11 of 25 shooting from the field.  Anthony also added team high 13 rebounds, as the Knicks as a whole got working on the glass in the fourth quarter after sorely being out hustled there the first three quarters.

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Unfortunately for the Knicks, Anthony ran out of steam towards the end of the night, as he didn’t score a field goal the last seven minutes of the game.  Anthony also uncharacteristically missed free throws, going 10 of 16 from the charity stripe, missing four in the fourth quarter and overtime alone.

So much pressure was put on Anthony because Felton had an off night and the bench was atrocious.  The bench combined for only 13 points, never getting it going on the offensive end.  They didn’t match the energy level or intensity of the Nets bench either, as Reggie Evans grabbed 12 rebounds, five of the offensive variety.  

Marcus Camby in particular struggled with the energy level of Evans, as he was ineffective in his five minutes on the court, not securing a rebound and turning the ball over twice and committing two fouls.

J.R. Smith and Steve Novak were unable to get anything going on offense, combining to shoot just three of 10.  Smith did have seven rebounds, but the Knicks sorely missed his scoring punch with Felton struggling so much.  Novak struggled on the defensive end yet again, constantly losing his man for wide open three point attempts from the short corners.

Rasheed Wallace continued the trend, going just two of 11 from the field as he joined the long list of Knicks who were unable to get it going Monday night.  He grabbed eight rebounds, but didn’t have the normal impact on the game he had been having throughout the early part of the season.

The Knicks were -8 with Wallace on the court in large part because of his old college teammate Jerry Stackhouse.  Stackhouse knocked down four of five three point attempts, ending the night with 14 points and the best +/- of the night at +13.

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The only person to help Anthony in the scoring column Monday night was Tyson Chandler, who set a career high with 28 points.  Chandler went 12 of 13 from the field and set the tone from the start scoring eight points in the first quarter.

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Chandler came into the game with a lot of intensity, the only player who matched the level of the Nets for the whole night.  Chandler had his presence felt while he was on the court, as he grabbed 10 rebounds in addition to his 28 points, adding one assist and two steals as well.

The Knicks head back on the road with a game in Milwaukee against the Bucks Wednesday night at 8:00 P.M. ET.  The Knicks will not have Jason Kidd again and potentially could be without Ronnie Brewer as well, possibly leaving the Knicks thin in the backcourt against a team that sports Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis as their starting backcourt.