Bulls 103 Knicks 90: Temporary Reality Check
For the first time since Mike D'Antoni became coach, the New York Knicks lost their final regular season home game, 103-90 to the Chicago Bulls. In the coach's first year, the Knicks beat the Nets by 29 at Madison Square Garden to end the season; last April, the Knicks beat the Wizards by 11 in the final home game.
The good news is that the team has moved past the glories of season-end blowouts of bad teams, and that there's a far more meaningful reward for home fans ahead: at least four playoff games in the next week, and possibly more if the team can find a way to overachieve and get a little extra from its stars and its role players.
Last night's loss was meaningless in the big picture, but it did represent an early reality check on what the Knicks will face when they play the Celtics (whose defense was crafted by Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau) and what will be needed to be truly competitive in those playoff games. The Bulls came to last night's game wanting to win badly, as they are still seeking home court advantage against the Spurs, and for a little extra motivation, the Knicks were the only team they hadn't beaten this season. (Also, Thibs doesn't believe in having his team take its foot off the pedal or tanking to give his starters some rest).
The Knicks did a very good job of matching the Bulls' intensity early, moving the ball (eight assists in the first quarter), spreading the floor, getting open looks, and having Carmelo get off to a good start. Even better, the bench continued its spirited play (post-Amare) for the third game in a row, outplaying the Bulls bench, one of the better second units in the league. Scoring 55 on the Bulls and shooting 56 percent overall (including 40 percent on three pointers) was excellent offense, and the defense was passable.
But in the third quarter, the Bulls did what elite teams do: adjust and tighten the screws on the Knicks' pet offensive options. Carmelo had every perimeter shot contested tightly, and whenever he drove at least one other defender collapsed on him while cutting off passing angles for him to find teammates. The other Knicks had their spot up jumpers and drives heavily contested as well, and even when they occasionally had a good look, they rushed it. In the first 7:20 of the third quarter, the Bulls outscored the Knicks 26-2 (!) to take a 21 point lead, led by MVP-to be Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, and Joakim Noah, and the quick and decisive way they delivered the hammer made the lead feel like 40 points.
The unlikely bench savior for the Knicks keeping the game manageable was Bill Walker, who along with Douglas, Jeffries, Carter and Shawne Williams fought very hard to get the deficit down to six points at 84-78, and continued to keep the Knicks within striking distance at 91-84 with 7:30 left in the game, forcing Rose and Boozer to return. Rose then made a three pointer to get the lead back up to ten, which more or less ended the rally (and the game). D'Antoni temporarily brought back Billups and Melo to presumably try and kick start another rally, but quickly came to his senses and removed them from the game after two minutes.
The loss represented the end of the Knicks' seven game winning streak, but though no loss is good, this was a "useful" loss in the sense that the coaches will have plenty to share with the players, particularly Anthony and Billups, since they control so many possessions. A big talking point will be how to avoid giving in to the temptation to force things against elite defenses that cut off your main options. Carmelo has had a fantastic scoring run during the winning streak, but in the second half last night he tried to do too much on his own and missed seven of his last nine shots. Billups missed all 3 of his shots and had only one assist in the second half. Landry Fields missed all four of his second half shots. Toney Douglas missed all five of his 3 pointers (though at least 3 of the looks were open).
Amare was healthy last night and looked fit to play, but the coaches wisely kept him out (especially wise given what happened to players like Noah, Ronnie Brewer and Andrew Bynum, even if their injuries end up being relatively minor). Having a healthy Amare back for the playoffs will give the Knicks more options and make it harder for the Celtics to focus their energy on Melo and Billups, and he will give the bench units more firepower.
Turiaf started last night (as I expected would eventually happen), and led a respectable defensive effort for the better part of three quarters, though like the rest of the team, he couldn't do much on the boards as the Knicks got killed 51-33. There were a few sequences where Rose singlehandedly cut up the Knick defense, but on the whole, I was pleased with how hard the Knicks worked to contain the damage Rose did in the halfcourt offense - the problem is that they allowed too many offensive rebounds after defending the initial attempt.
I'll have a preview of the Celtics series by the end of the week, but this game reinforced another obvious point that will be particularly germane to the playoffs: the need for a scoring option beyond the Billups-Melo-Amare triumvirate. Since the Knicks are unlikely to get more 15 point second halves from Bill Walker, Toney Douglas is going to have to be the player that (at least at home) can shoot better than 4-15 (and 1 for 7 on three pointers), as he did against the Bulls.
Tonight will be the last regular season game, at Boston against the Celtics in one of the most meaningless warm-ups for a playoff series, as it will exclusively be a battle of benches. The only suspense left in the NBA regular season at this point will be finding out what happens with the West playoff seeds, and when Game 1 of the playoffs will be played this weekend.
The good news is that the team has moved past the glories of season-end blowouts of bad teams, and that there's a far more meaningful reward for home fans ahead: at least four playoff games in the next week, and possibly more if the team can find a way to overachieve and get a little extra from its stars and its role players.
Last night's loss was meaningless in the big picture, but it did represent an early reality check on what the Knicks will face when they play the Celtics (whose defense was crafted by Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau) and what will be needed to be truly competitive in those playoff games. The Bulls came to last night's game wanting to win badly, as they are still seeking home court advantage against the Spurs, and for a little extra motivation, the Knicks were the only team they hadn't beaten this season. (Also, Thibs doesn't believe in having his team take its foot off the pedal or tanking to give his starters some rest).
The Knicks did a very good job of matching the Bulls' intensity early, moving the ball (eight assists in the first quarter), spreading the floor, getting open looks, and having Carmelo get off to a good start. Even better, the bench continued its spirited play (post-Amare) for the third game in a row, outplaying the Bulls bench, one of the better second units in the league. Scoring 55 on the Bulls and shooting 56 percent overall (including 40 percent on three pointers) was excellent offense, and the defense was passable.
But in the third quarter, the Bulls did what elite teams do: adjust and tighten the screws on the Knicks' pet offensive options. Carmelo had every perimeter shot contested tightly, and whenever he drove at least one other defender collapsed on him while cutting off passing angles for him to find teammates. The other Knicks had their spot up jumpers and drives heavily contested as well, and even when they occasionally had a good look, they rushed it. In the first 7:20 of the third quarter, the Bulls outscored the Knicks 26-2 (!) to take a 21 point lead, led by MVP-to be Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, and Joakim Noah, and the quick and decisive way they delivered the hammer made the lead feel like 40 points.
The unlikely bench savior for the Knicks keeping the game manageable was Bill Walker, who along with Douglas, Jeffries, Carter and Shawne Williams fought very hard to get the deficit down to six points at 84-78, and continued to keep the Knicks within striking distance at 91-84 with 7:30 left in the game, forcing Rose and Boozer to return. Rose then made a three pointer to get the lead back up to ten, which more or less ended the rally (and the game). D'Antoni temporarily brought back Billups and Melo to presumably try and kick start another rally, but quickly came to his senses and removed them from the game after two minutes.
The loss represented the end of the Knicks' seven game winning streak, but though no loss is good, this was a "useful" loss in the sense that the coaches will have plenty to share with the players, particularly Anthony and Billups, since they control so many possessions. A big talking point will be how to avoid giving in to the temptation to force things against elite defenses that cut off your main options. Carmelo has had a fantastic scoring run during the winning streak, but in the second half last night he tried to do too much on his own and missed seven of his last nine shots. Billups missed all 3 of his shots and had only one assist in the second half. Landry Fields missed all four of his second half shots. Toney Douglas missed all five of his 3 pointers (though at least 3 of the looks were open).
Amare was healthy last night and looked fit to play, but the coaches wisely kept him out (especially wise given what happened to players like Noah, Ronnie Brewer and Andrew Bynum, even if their injuries end up being relatively minor). Having a healthy Amare back for the playoffs will give the Knicks more options and make it harder for the Celtics to focus their energy on Melo and Billups, and he will give the bench units more firepower.
Turiaf started last night (as I expected would eventually happen), and led a respectable defensive effort for the better part of three quarters, though like the rest of the team, he couldn't do much on the boards as the Knicks got killed 51-33. There were a few sequences where Rose singlehandedly cut up the Knick defense, but on the whole, I was pleased with how hard the Knicks worked to contain the damage Rose did in the halfcourt offense - the problem is that they allowed too many offensive rebounds after defending the initial attempt.
I'll have a preview of the Celtics series by the end of the week, but this game reinforced another obvious point that will be particularly germane to the playoffs: the need for a scoring option beyond the Billups-Melo-Amare triumvirate. Since the Knicks are unlikely to get more 15 point second halves from Bill Walker, Toney Douglas is going to have to be the player that (at least at home) can shoot better than 4-15 (and 1 for 7 on three pointers), as he did against the Bulls.
Tonight will be the last regular season game, at Boston against the Celtics in one of the most meaningless warm-ups for a playoff series, as it will exclusively be a battle of benches. The only suspense left in the NBA regular season at this point will be finding out what happens with the West playoff seeds, and when Game 1 of the playoffs will be played this weekend.
I've said this on many blogs, I don't understand why dantoni doesn't play amare on the left (cuz he likes to drive right and isn't good going left) and melo on the right. As ur shot charts show, melo is better on the right wing/post. This would space the floor so much yet dantoni still has the two of them on the same side of the court or opposite to their comfort zones.
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