MINNESOTA – Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse after Tuesday night’s dreadful performance against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Knicks came into Minnesota and never really stood a chance. The struggling Timberwolves delivered the Knicks their 5th straight road loss. New York has now lost 9 of their last 10 games, and it doesn’t look like the losing will end anytime soon. It’s starting to become the same sad story night in and night out when it comes to the Knicks. Wednesday night the Knicks were down by as many as 24 points, and when you’re trying to play catch up its a game you’re going to lose 9 times out of 10. It just seems like the Knicks don’t really start playing until they have a huge deficit, when in reality they should be playing hard right out of the gate.
Kevin Martin was lights out for the Timberwolves. He scored 37 points, and added 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Impressively, Martin shot 7 for 11 from behind the arc. The Timberwolves as a team had 11 in total, which meant aside from Martin they only had 4 three pointers from other players. This marks another game in which the Knicks have given up double digit three pointers, which is completely inexcusable. Shabazz Muhammad also had a good game. He added 17 points and 8 rebounds, just missing a double double. Minnesota also got to the free throw line 22 times, converting on 16 attempts to bring them to 72% from the charity stripe on the night.
The Knicks were led by Carmelo Anthony, with 20 points and 4 rebounds. Amar’e Stoudemire also had a good offensive game adding 19 points off the bench. Quincy Acy stepped into the starting role and had a decent game. With 9 points and 8 rebounds, Acy just missed a double double. The Knicks have done a better job getting in transition, as this was the 3rd game in a row they scored double digits in fast break points (14). The Knicks even shot 49% (34-69) from the field, and got to the line 28 times (22-28). But as said on multiple occasions, the defense is the main problem bothering the Knicks. They are allowing way too many points, and team’s are getting more open looks then they should. It’s been irritating to watch the Knicks, who are a professional team, get beat back door repeatedly. If the Knicks do not fix their defensive problems, they will be lucky to win 25 games this season.
Barry Holmes/Pure Sports NY