• Fri. Mar 29th, 2024
Derick E. Hingle/USA Today

After losing another tough game to the Grizzlies on Tuesday night, Mike Woodson & co had to be happy that they would have the opportunity to atone right away versus New Orleans. New York would be without Amar’e Stoudemire to rest up balky left knee with the Knicks playing 4 games in 5 nights.

Carmelo Anthony and Eric Gordon had their own personal battle going in the first even if neither player guarded the other. It was a sign of things to come for both but specifically Anthony who continued to carry this Knicks team as he’s done the entire season. Tuesday’s game marked only the 4th time all season that Melo did not lead the team in scoring but he was back in his element at the Smoothie King Center.

20 year old phenom and all-star, Anthony Davis ignited the crowd with a couple of highlight real dunks and blocks, finishing with 5 total rejections on the night. The 6’10” Davis showed his prowess as he was at times even asked to guard Anthony out on the perimeter. When New York wasn’t getting their scoring from Anthony, JR Smith did all he could to make sure the Knicks didn’t have one of their customary lulls scoring 12 points in the first 5+ minutes of the 2nd quarter.

Outside of Anthony, New York received very little offensive support from the other starters as they combined to score a paltry 17 points so it was vital that Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr provide some punch of the thin Knick bench. Then, the seemingly snake bitten Knicks would suffer another injury, this one to starting SF, Iman Shumpert. Another injury to the same knee he had ACL surgery on just two years ago. The early report stated that it was a left knee sprain but New York will surely be cautious in easing him back into action.

The Knicks held a 78-70 at the outset of the 4th and pushed that lead up to 13 following a 5-0 run by JR Smith in the quarter’s first minute but within the blink of an eye that lead would almost entirely dissipate after a Luke Babbitt uncontested three from the corner. From that point in the game Anthony reeled off the next 13, Knicks points and while the Pelican on two occasions took 1 point leads, Anthony would not allow his team to lose, also coming up with a huge steal with New York up 94-91 that was initially ruled an over and back but after a brief discussion the call was reversed and the Knicks would secure the possession. Melo would put an end to the game with the last of his game high 42 points and the Knicks on the back of their superstar, walked off the court winners. A stark contrast to the feelings they had just 24 hours prior in Memphis.

Final

Knicks 98 Pelicans 91

Wilson Caicedo: PureSportsNY

By Vernon McKenzie

Graduate of New Institute Of Technology with a BA in Communications with a focus on Television Radio. Owner and Executive Producer of PureSportsNY

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.