• Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. – The New York Knicks came into Tuesday night’s contest against the Boston Celtics (27-22), having dropped five of their last six games. New York had fallen to a record of 23-27, and can blame poor defensive performances for their struggles of late. In the last six games, the Knicks have held opponents to under 40% shooting from the field in just one game. Also, opponents have scored over 100 points in four out of the last six games.

Boston stood 5.5 games ahead of the Knicks in the Atlantic Division, and looked to avenge a 120-114 defeat in the Garden back on Jan. 12. The Celtics have been playing much better basketball of late, and had won five of their last six games. Isaiah Thomas has led the way for Boston, and has averaged 27.5 points per game against the Knicks this season.

(Credit: Barry Holmes) Marcus Smart of the Celtics before Tuesday night's contest.
(Credit: Barry Holmes) Marcus Smart of the Celtics before Tuesday night’s contest.

This game Tuesday night was a tale of two halves.

The Knicks played solid basketball for the first half of this game. New York was led by Carmelo Anthony and Robin Lopez, who both were each working on double doubles. Anthony and Lopez each had eight points, while Lopez had one more rebound with nine. Aaron Afflalo led in scoring for the Knicks in the first half, with 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting from the field.

Boston shot dreadful in the first half, and seemed to be sleepwalking out there. Thomas had 13 points, but only on 4 of 12 shooting from the field. The Celtics also were held without a three pointer (0-13), and shot just 38% from the field in the first half. Boston was able to stay in this game by forcing 10 Knick turnovers, and converting for 12 points off of those turnovers. New York led 47-45 going into halftime, despite 10 lead changes in the game and having led by as many as nine points.

(Credit: Barry Holmes) Boston outscored New York 52-42 in the second half.
(Credit: Barry Holmes) Boston outscored New York 52-42 in the second half.

The second half is where Boston started to wake up out of their sleepwalk. The Knicks on the other hand, decided not to play defense in the second half. The Celtics abused New York for 32 second half points in the paint. It seemed too easy at times, and made many question the toughness of this Knick team.

Boston would go on to win this game, 97-89 and take a 2-1 season series advantage. Thomas finished the game with 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Tyler Zeller and Evan Turner both recorded double doubles. Zeller had 16 points and 10 rebounds, but really hurt the Knicks on the offensive glass (seven offensive rebounds). Turner helped to run the point down the stretch, and tallied 14 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The Knicks were stagnant on offense, and as a team only had seven second half assists. For the game, New York shot just 37% from the field, and under 40% from the field for the second straight game. The Knicks were led by Lopez with 17 points and 11 rebounds; 11 of those rebounds coming on the offensive glass. Anthony provided the support on the defensive glass with 13 defensive rebounds. Anthony recorded a double double of his own, scoring 16 points with his 14 total rebounds.

The bottom line is that the Knicks have been awful defensively. New York is not nearly as talented offensively to be as content as they seemed trading baskets. In the NBA you need to get stops, and that just did not seem like a priority Tuesday night from New York in the second half. Thomas got to the paint it seemed at will, and no one wanted to put a body on Zeller. All of that, combined with Turner hitting contested jumpers off the dribble down the stretch sealed the Knicks fate.

New York will look to get out of this funk, when they face the Detroit Pistons (26-23) Thursday night in Detroit. The Knicks have struggled on the road this season, and have a 9-16 record.

(Credit: Barry Holmes) Porzingis was named Rookie of The Month for the month of January for the third time this season.
(Credit: Barry Holmes) Porzingis was named Rookie of The Month for the month of January, for the third time this season.

Stats Of The Game:

  • Kristaps Porzingis tallied 10 points, five rebounds, one block and one steal Tuesday night. Porzingis has scored in double figures in 15 of his last 16 games.
  • New York now has a 3-21 record when trailing after the third quarter.
  • Langston Galloway had just one point in 34 minutes, making a start for the injured Jose Calderon.

Barry Holmes is a Senior Writer for PureSportsNY.com. Follow him on Twitter @BHO732

 

 

 

By Barry Holmes

Graduate of Millersville University, with a BS in Communications focused in Broadcast. Senior Writer & Social Media Manager for PureSportsNY.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.