Thursday, November 22, 2012

Furious Knicks Comeback Falls Short, Lose to Mavericks


Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Post Game Recap
Final Score: New York Knicks: 111 Dallas Mavericks: 114
Furious Comeback Falls Short for Knicks

The Knicks fell tonight to the Dallas Mavericks 114-111, as they just did not have enough in the tank in the end to pull off the comeback.  Dallas built a 12 point lead in the fourth quarter, yet the Knicks never laid down and had a chance to win right up to the final buzzer.

The biggest problem in the game for the Knicks was on the defensive end of the court, as they surrendered 65 second half points.  The Knicks had no answer for the Mavericks perimeter players tonight, as Darren Collison, O.J. Mayo and Vince Carter all had great games.

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Collison scored 19 on seven of 11 shooting, adding seven assists.  Mayo continued his hot shooting start to the season, knocking down 10 of 17 shots for 27 points and two assists.  Carter was the Knicks killer tonight, as he knocked down five of 10 three point attempts and nine of 17 shots overall for 25 points.

Jae Crowder also stuffed the stat sheet for the Mavericks, as he scored 12 points and grabbed four to go along with one assist and a steal.  Crowder knocked down some big shots for the Mavericks, killing the Knicks momentum whenever they would start building some.

Overall, the Mavericks shot 49.4 percent from the field overall and 44.8 from the three point line.
The Knicks also had problems taking care of the ball for portions of the game in Dallas, turning the ball over 14 times in the game.  Carmelo Anthony turned the ball over seven times alone, and Raymond Felton had four turnovers of his own.

Felton was strong otherwise in the game, scoring 18 points and dishing 11 assists, continuing his outstanding start to the season and proving all his doubters wrong thus far.

Anthony was the recipient of two very questionable calls down the stretch of the game.  The first was on a circus lay-up that Anthony did a 180-turn in the air, banking it in; but it was waived off as the refs called an charging foul against Anthony when Carter slide underneath him. 

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The second call Anthony drove to the basket and was hit in the face with a Chris Kaman elbow after blowing by Shawn Marion.  What happens after the ball is out of a players hand is supposed to be irrelevant, but jump shooters get those types of calls all the time.  Anthony does not receive the start treatment from refs that many other All-Star caliber players do.

Anthony finished the game with 23 points, six rebounds and four assists but missed the game winning shot with 6 seconds left, fouling out afterwards.  Anthony’s stat line didn’t end up looking to bad, but he struggled in the first half shooting only one of six for four points in the first half. 

In their returns to Dallas, Jason Kidd and Tyson Chandler had arguably their best games of the season.  Kidd looked like vintage Kidd, putting on a show for the Dallas fans.  Kidd finished the game with 17 points, five assists, six rebounds and five steals.  Again, Kidd had no turnovers and the Knicks played best with him on the court, as the Knicks were a +12 with him on the court.

Chandler showed up for the Knicks tonight and dominated when he was on the court.  Chandler finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds and showed why he won Defensive Player of the Year last season.  Chandler finished with one block and one steal, all the while having multiple plays that will not show up in a box score; there were a number of times Chandler changed the shots of Mavericks’ players and made it difficult on anyone who drove the paint. 

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Mike Woodson was out coached tonight plan and simple, but he held himself accountable like he does with his players post game.  Woodson admitted that his strategy of an eight-man rotation in the game tonight did not work, as the energy just was not the same on the defensive end of the court with the cut down rotation.  It was a questionable decision by Woodson, as the Knicks were coming off the second night of a back-to-back and normally play nine or 10 players double-digit minutes.

It was also surprising to not see Marcus Camby of Kurt Thomas come off the bench tonight, as the Knicks struggled on the boards once again.  Camby, even in his older age, is a dominant rebounder; he led the NBA in rebounding percentage last season.  Thomas offers veteran leadership and a no back-down mentality and would have helped slow down the Mavericks onslaught tonight. 

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Next up for the Knicks is a visit to Houston to take on Jeremy Lin and the Rockets.  Lin will not be the only person the Knicks need to keep an eye on, as James Harden has taken to his new role as lead dog and ran with it in Houston. 

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