Friday, November 23, 2012
Post Game Recap
Final Score: New York Knicks: 103
Houston Rockets 131
Knicks Blown Out by Rockets to End Road
Trip
The Knicks came into the game saying all
the right things about their match-up with Jeremy Lin, but it was Lin who came
out on top as the Rockets blew out the Knicks 131-103. The Knicks left their defense in the locker
room at half time of the game at Dallas, as the Knicks have given up 196 points
in the last six quarters and 122.5 points per game in the last two. The Knicks were unable to stop anyone
tonight, including Lin.
Lin had a strong game, scoring 13 points
while grabbing seven rebounds and handing out three assists. That is child’s play compared to what some of
his teammates unleashed against what looked like an unprepared Knicks squad.
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James Harden came in as one of the top
five scorers in the NBA, averaging over 24 points per game; he blew that away
tonight. Harden scored 33 points,
including a perfect 16 of 16 from the foul line, dishing nine assists, bringing
in four rebounds and getting two steals.
The Knicks had no answer for Harden
tonight, as he danced into the lane at will and did whatever he wanted against
the Knicks. He took advantage of having
the slower Jason Kidd on him for most of the night, slashing to the rim and
attacking the paint; this put the Knicks in a tough position as their rotations
were slow tonight and no one trusted each other on the court.
The Knicks expected a strong showing
from Harden, as he has really taken to his new role as go-to player after being
the third option in Oklahoma City. What the
rest of the Rockets starting lineup did no one could have predicted.
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Chandler Parsons, a second year player
who was drafted in the second round last year, set his career high in the first
half alone when he scored 26 points alone, 18 of which came in a perfect
shooting first quarter. He finished with
a career high 31 points in addition to five rebounds, four assists and four
steals.
The second surprise came from Omer Asik,
who is considered a top defensive center in the NBA and strong on the boards
but not revered as a strong offensive option; tonight Asik scored around the
rim and looks every bit worth the $25 million dollars the Rockets gave him.
Asik had a game high 14 rebounds to go
along with 18 points, as he showed a deft touch around the rim making multiple reverse
lay-ups and finishing off second opportunities.
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The Knicks defense was non-existent
tonight, as they allowed the Rockets to shoot 51.7 percent from the field and a
blistering 56 percent from the three point line. The Knicks also got destroyed
on the boards, as the Rockets outrebounded them 49-30, a number that is
embarrassingly bad.
This raises the question of where Marcus
Camby is. Once again, Camby was unable
to get off the bench even though Rasheed Wallace was out with a sore foot. Camby was brought in to New York to be the
backup to Tyson Chandler and bring a defensive presence on the court in
addition to his outstanding rebounding skills.
Head coach Mike Woodson says Camby is
still rounding into playing shape, but that excuse is getting stale fast. The Knicks are in desperate need of rebounding
help and are refusing to use what was the top rebounder in the NBA last season
by percentages.
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In addition to the poor rebounding, the
Knicks didn’t take of the ball well either.
The Knicks turned the ball over another 15 times tonight, leading to 23
Rockets points. The main culprit in this
was once again Carmelo Anthony, who had seven turnovers alone and is reverting
back to his old tendencies; a recipe that ends in disaster for the Knicks.
In one instance, Anthony argued with a
referee while going up the court, completely ignoring what was going on around
him in the game and allowing the Rockets to get an easy fast break dunk as
Anthony was more concerned with yelling at the ref than playing defense. This led to yet another technical foul for
Anthony, as losing his cool rubbed off on his teammates and the Knicks imploded
again in the third quarter.
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Other than those problems, Anthony had
an outstanding game, scoring 37 points while grabbing four rebounds and
dropping two assists. Anthony hit a
career high seven three pointers in the game, as the Knicks shot well in the
game but were unable to get enough stops to make the game close.
Raymond Felton had a strong game for the
Knicks as well, as he scored 17 points and had eight assists. He got hit with the turnover big in addition
to Anthony though; as he turned the ball over four times himself.
Next up for the Knicks is a matinee
Sunday against the Detroit Pistons. The Knicks
cannot look past the Pistons, as Lawrence Frank will have his team ready to go
and they have a big front court; another team that will make it hard on the
Knicks on the boards.
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