Sorry about the lack of preview. At first I thought I was going to the game, so I was going to ask someone else to write it, now I found out I'm staying home and I don't have time to write one up. Sorry, guys. Anyway, let's talk about the game. Should be a good one.
So far so good for us. We seemed a bit lazy and the T'Wolves got back a bit. Houston is really struggling. He had so many open looks but, the just weren't falling. Good job to Nazr, TT, and Steph. I think I'll throw this in too <font size="7">Halftime</font> Knicks 41 T'Wolves 48 <font color="DarkOrange"> <font size="4">Knicks Leading Scorers:</font></font> Nazr Mohammed 15 FG's:6-11 Stephon Marbury: 11 FG's:5-9 Tim Thomas: 9: FG's 3-5 <font color="Green"><font size="4"> T'Wolves Leading Scorers:</font></font> Latrell Sprewell: 11 FG's: 5-10 Sam Cassel: 11 FG's: 3-8 Wally Szczerbiak 8 FG's: 4-7 <font size="4"><font color="Red">Hot at the Half:</font></font> <font size="2">Nazr Mohammed</font> He is shooting 6-11 and continues to thrive off of Marbury's penetration. He also has 6 rebounds to go along with it as well. Mohammed is continuing his great play at the C spot again. He also had that nice transition dish and although Marbury missed the reverse, he tipped it in nicely. Great job so far. I know Nazr didn't leave his game at home today. <font size="4">My Prediction:</font> The Knicks are currently up by 7. They started off somewhat slow but, quickly picked it up and were leading by 13. Excellent defense was played on them. Our bench play was great and Norris was doing his thing off the bench again. Well you guys already know about JYD. Hustle as usual. I see the Knicks wining this one with a score of about 93-88. The Knicks are playing with much confidence and energy. If the Knicks always played like this than they can be considered an elite team.
Nice quick game thread. I am sure that the Knicks will win as long as y'all keep KG from getting hot. I am sure Knicks Analyst is appreciative for the nice quick thread.
Is it me or is it that Tim Thomas performs better without Jamal Crawford? He has 9 points and 5 boards now. Sick numbers...for him at least.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ming637:</div><div class="quote_post">Is it me or is it that Tim Thomas performs better without Jamal Crawford? He has 9 points and 5 boards now. Sick numbers...for him at least. </div> Its mainly because there are more shots to go around. Houston at this point is not demanding shots like Crawford would so TT gets more shots. Thats how Im looking at it.
Final: NYK:100 MIN: 87W <font size="7">Final</font> Knicks 100 T'Wolves 87 <font color="DarkOrange"> <font size="4">Knicks Leading Scorers:</font></font> Stephon Marbury: 34 Nazr Mohammed: 19 Kurt Thomas: 14 <font color="GREEN"><font size="4"> T'Wolves Leading Scorers:</font></font> Latrell Sprewell: 22 Sam Cassell: 21 Kevin Garnett: 17 <font size="4"><font color="Red">Player of the Game:</font></font> <font size="2">Stephon Marbury</font> Isiah did a great thing. That talking really got to Marbury. When he scored his 11 of our 13 points late in the 4th, we clinched it. Who penetrates better than Starbury? I really don't know. Marbury was making amazing shots. He kept the team involved and became a leader down the stretch for the Knicks. 30+ points from him back to back. Stephon Marbury is going to be great for us no question. I can't even wait to see what happens in the playoffs. <font size="4">Recap/Final Thoughts</font> Excellent win for the Knicks. They started on a brief 1-8 slump however, as time progressed, we came out strong and had a 7 point lead at half. As the 3rd started we increased our lead was cut down. And the Wolves were looking to try and give us some competition. In the 4th the Knicks allowed the T'Wolves to even get the lead on 2 occasions. But, after the second, Marbury would here none of that. He was literally slicing and slashing and penetrating in the paint for And1 layups and many amzing things you and I wish we could do. He carried the team on his back and became the catalyst as the Knicks moved to 16-13 of this almost expiring year but, still young season. In as much as the Wolves are struggling, they still managed to beat an elite team. These Knicks are looking really good. Kurt Thomas provided excellent defense on the MVP and arguably the best player in the world, Kevin Garnett. Does this mean Kurt Thomas is the best defender in the world ? All I know he is good and can be on one of the all NBA defensive teams this season if he keeps it up. We are really starting to become a great home team. We are 10-4 at home and although we had some bad losses I really think the Knicks are starting to really get it together. But, anytime it looks like that, the Knicks manage to play like they did against Dallas and Boston. Either way, a great win for us, a great confidence builder, hopefully a great future, and definitely a great night for me as I go to sleep !
The best win of the season so far by a mile. This game was a real morale booster. There's not much more to say. We played real contender-level basketball tonight.
Good win for the Knicks....But the Wolves defense stinks right now. For the life of me I cant understand how Flip Suanders allows Stephon Marbury to go one on one basically all night from the same spot on the court, right inside center court. You can tell Marbury was going to be looking for his shot all night because he does the same thing everytime he is looking to be a scorer. He steps over the halfcourt line pounds the dribble while looking down. And right before he makes his move, he quickly looks at the defender and bang quickly crosses the rock over to his right hand and goes down the middle of the lane. Never once did Flip Suanders try to double Marbury before he got to half-court to get the ball out of his hands. Never once did he face guard Marbury when the Knicks inbounded the basketball to force someone else to bring the ball up. Sammy & them got killed but Flip Suanders left them out their to dry with him not mixing up defensive schemes to get the ball out of Stephs hands. So all you got to do is tip your hat to Steph. And say he took what the Wolves D gave him all night and killed them for it.
Henacy, Marbury was penetrating pretty well tonight. Anthony Carter tried, and the rest of them but, Stephon was just unstoppable tonight. He was pulling off amazing moves. They were so impressive that it's almost like I have never watched Marbury before. The defense was pretty good. There werea couple of nice 24 second violations too. Maybe the defense wasn't all that great but, it definitely wasn't bad.
