Returning home from their trip to London to take a vacation play the Pistons, the Knicks had a busy seven days. They fell to the Nets at home in another close one (88-85), won in Boston for the first time since 2006 (89-86), were embarrassed in Philadelphia (97-80) and won a back-and-forth contest with the Hawks at the Garden on Sunday night (106-104).
Although the 2-2 week was less than an overwhelming success, it was highlighted by the return of Raymond Felton from injury and the reemergence of an Amar'e Stoudemire that Knicks fans who go all the way back to 2010-11 may recall. Although the week was a wash for record purposes, the improved play of Stoudemire was important to the team's long term aspirations.
Just past the halfway point, the Knicks are 27-15, two games ahead of the Nets atop the Atlantic Division and a game and a half behind the Heat for the East's top seed.
What Went Right This Week: Both Knick victories were hard fought, requiring about-face heroics from JR Smith in Boston (he made a three with 1:11 left that gave the Knicks control of the game and forced a Paul Pierce turnover to keep it that way) and Carmelo Anthony against Atlanta (he made an and-one layup against defensive powerhouse Josh Smith to give the Knicks a 105-104 lead with 12.5 seconds left). Prior to his three in Boston, Smith was 2-15 from the field. Anthony, who finished with 42 points against the Hawks, started the game 3-10 before making twelve of his next eighteen.
The Knicks employed a 3-2 zone for a stretch of the first half against Boston, a wrinkle that gave the Celtics trouble and allowed them to keep Stoudemire, Novak and Prigioni on the court together. Iman Shumpert and JR Smith held the NBA's top three-point shooter Kyle Korver to just thirteen points against the Hawks. Mike Woodson used Chandler, Stoudemire and Anthony to finish games on offense all week and the Knicks offense didn't fall apart (they were winning when Stoudemire left the game for an offense/defense substitution against New Jersey, and got the points they needed against both Boston and Atlanta).
Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Garnett didn't discuss breakfast cereals or transportation in Boston. And perhaps most significantly, although Felton and Shumpert didn't overwhelm with their play, neither had any setbacks in their recovery.
What Went Wrong: Losing to Brooklyn was a disappointment, although it required 12-24 three-point shooting performance from the Nets. Melo disappointed down the stretch in that one, going 0-6 in the fourth quarter and airballing an ill-advised fadeaway over Gerald Wallace with twelve seconds left and the Knicks down one. A win would have given the Knicks the tie-breaker with their intra-city rivals. Now the series is locked at 2-2.
Other than the play of Stoudemire (more on that in a second), nothing went right in Philadelphia. Perhaps celebrating his first All-Star selection, Jrue Holiday abused Raymond Felton in his first game back from injury, scoring in every way possible on his way to 35 points. It was the perfect storm: Anthony had what may have been his worst game as a Knick, shooting 9-28. Matters weren't helped any by Kidd, Shumpert and JR Smith who combined for a shocking 0-17 performance. That wasn't all, as the Sixers scored 36 points in the paint and basically did whatever they wanted from the opening tipoff (they started the game by shooting 6-6). Smith's week was one he'll have to get a tattoo in his inner ear to forget: he shot a putrid 29%. The poor shooting numbers for the Knicks are a symptom of a lack of ball movement, something they will no doubt look to return to as Raymond Felton gets back up to speed.
The Knicks also made a questionable decision to play Jason Kidd over the weekend. Prior to the game in Philadelphia he was a game time decision with a bad back. Nonetheless, he played an ineffective fifteen minutes and left the game. He then played just five minutes against Atlanta on Sunday and left the game with back pain. The Knicks didn't sign Jason Kidd so they could test his durability in January—they did it so he could help them win a championship in the spring. With the return of Felton and Shumpert, there was no need to even chance it. If his back gets worse, they'll have made a colossal mistake.
Anything Good for a Laugh in Knicks Land?: Always. Against Atlanta, Melo tied the Knicks record for threes in a game with nine, which puts him in the company of legends like John Starks, Latrell Sprewell and...Toney Douglas (god the Knicks were bad). Speaking of Sprewell, in 2006 David Lee became the first Knick All-Star since Spree. This year, Lee became the first Golden State Warrior All-Star since Spree. Let's hope he doesn't become the first NBA player since Sprewell to turn down a $21 million contract offer "because he has a family to feed."
Player of the Week: Amar'e Stoudemire. He didn't make any game winning shots, tie any records or score forty plus, but Stoudemire made big strides. He lost the tentativeness that plagued him in his first weeks back and showed he's comfortable coming off the bench. He averaged seventeen points on 61% shooting and 6.3 rebounds in 27 minutes a game. He was comfortable shooting his jump shot, showed off a new post move or two and was more active on the glass than usual (he had a huge fourth quarter tip in against the Celtics). He's still prone to absent mindedness on defense (to put it gently) and will never be mistaken for Dennis Rodman, but he certainly earned his fourth quarter playing time and player of the week honors.
Up Next: The Knicks begin a stretch of six consecutive games they should win with Orlando, Milwaukee and Sacramento visiting MSG. It's the perfect opportunity to gain some ground on the Nets, who are the only threat to their Atlantic Division hopes now that the Celtics lost Rajon Rondo for the season. It doesn't get any easier than this for an NBA team, and anything less than three wins this week will be a disappointment.
You can follow Jonathan Fishner on Twitter @therealkingfish, and check out his blog The Real King Fish.
