Knicks 112 Spurs 107 OT
The Knicks came out spirited after the All-Star break and played with great focus and enthusiasm at home to beat a short-handed San Antonio Spurs team (missing Manu Ginobli), 112-107 in overtime. The nicest thing about this game was the total lack of a hangover from the losing streak or the poor end to the road trip – credit the days off, the return of Chris Duhon, and playing at home before an energetic crowd.
• Nate Robinson continued his stellar play with 32 points, 10 rebounds, 1 turnover, 4 for 8 3 pointers (normally a weakness), and clutch basket after clutch basket. I thought this game was even more impressive than the Clipper game, despite his gaudier statline in that contest. He channeled both Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli with his energy and creative ways of scoring – the Spurs struggled to contain him all game. His game tying basket with 20 seconds left in regulation, followed by 3 baskets in the first 3 minutes of overtime, were among the most electrifying individual moments of offense at the Garden this season.
• Duhon was very good in his return, and D’Antoni obviously missed him – Cdu ended up playing 46 minutes and had 17 points, 8 assists, and 4 rebounds with 3 turnovers. The defense, though not outstanding, wasn’t the leaky bucket it was against the Warriors and Clippers – the team seems to communicate on defense better with Duhon around and manages its switching and rotations more effectively. And on offense, the pick and roll naturally ran more smoothly -- two of the most well executed 3 pointers in the game (Nate in the first quarter, QRich in the fourth) came off of side pick and rolls, with Lee assisting Nate on the first to give the Knicks their biggest lead at 27-21, and Duhon passing over Lee to Richardson in the fourth to give the Knicks an 86-83 lead.
• Conversely, Tony Parker had a dreadful game for the Spurs –at one point, he missed nine straight shots, and ended up 5 for 20. No doubt his substandard shooting helped the Knicks stay in the game. Duncan pretty much carried the Spurs with 26 points and 15 rebounds, aided by Roger Mason and a particularly efficient Kurt Thomas off the bench (12 points, 85% TS, 6 rebounds in only 16 minutes)
• Al Harrington was considerably more restrained in his shooting than the last two games of the road trip, despite celebrating his 29th birthday. In fact, he was so restrained you wondered if he had been celebrating the night before --- his shot selection was OK but he missed some point blank shots inside. He was a valuable contributor on the boards, though, and ended up with 10 rebounds.
• Duhon, Nate and Chandler provided the biggest contributions, but it was one of those games where it seemed everyone made a big basket at some point during the game. Quentin Richardson only shot 3 for 10, but had one odd sequence in the third quarter where he tried to post up Bruce Bowen on the left block and (predictably) got rejected. On the next play, stunningly, he took it back at Bowen and scored and drew the foul, converting the foul shot for a 3 point play. It was of those plays that typified the fight that the Knicks brought to the game – their play wasn’t always smart or pretty, but they were thoroughly engaged and didn’t back down when the Spurs made any of their runs.
The big news since the All-Star break, of course, have been the trades made to acquire Larry Hughes and Chris Wilcox, and I'll have a brief update on those moves shortly.
• Nate Robinson continued his stellar play with 32 points, 10 rebounds, 1 turnover, 4 for 8 3 pointers (normally a weakness), and clutch basket after clutch basket. I thought this game was even more impressive than the Clipper game, despite his gaudier statline in that contest. He channeled both Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli with his energy and creative ways of scoring – the Spurs struggled to contain him all game. His game tying basket with 20 seconds left in regulation, followed by 3 baskets in the first 3 minutes of overtime, were among the most electrifying individual moments of offense at the Garden this season.
• Duhon was very good in his return, and D’Antoni obviously missed him – Cdu ended up playing 46 minutes and had 17 points, 8 assists, and 4 rebounds with 3 turnovers. The defense, though not outstanding, wasn’t the leaky bucket it was against the Warriors and Clippers – the team seems to communicate on defense better with Duhon around and manages its switching and rotations more effectively. And on offense, the pick and roll naturally ran more smoothly -- two of the most well executed 3 pointers in the game (Nate in the first quarter, QRich in the fourth) came off of side pick and rolls, with Lee assisting Nate on the first to give the Knicks their biggest lead at 27-21, and Duhon passing over Lee to Richardson in the fourth to give the Knicks an 86-83 lead.
• Conversely, Tony Parker had a dreadful game for the Spurs –at one point, he missed nine straight shots, and ended up 5 for 20. No doubt his substandard shooting helped the Knicks stay in the game. Duncan pretty much carried the Spurs with 26 points and 15 rebounds, aided by Roger Mason and a particularly efficient Kurt Thomas off the bench (12 points, 85% TS, 6 rebounds in only 16 minutes)
• Al Harrington was considerably more restrained in his shooting than the last two games of the road trip, despite celebrating his 29th birthday. In fact, he was so restrained you wondered if he had been celebrating the night before --- his shot selection was OK but he missed some point blank shots inside. He was a valuable contributor on the boards, though, and ended up with 10 rebounds.
• Duhon, Nate and Chandler provided the biggest contributions, but it was one of those games where it seemed everyone made a big basket at some point during the game. Quentin Richardson only shot 3 for 10, but had one odd sequence in the third quarter where he tried to post up Bruce Bowen on the left block and (predictably) got rejected. On the next play, stunningly, he took it back at Bowen and scored and drew the foul, converting the foul shot for a 3 point play. It was of those plays that typified the fight that the Knicks brought to the game – their play wasn’t always smart or pretty, but they were thoroughly engaged and didn’t back down when the Spurs made any of their runs.
The big news since the All-Star break, of course, have been the trades made to acquire Larry Hughes and Chris Wilcox, and I'll have a brief update on those moves shortly.
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