NY Knicks:After an impressive win Thursday night against the division rival Brooklyn Nets and a blowout win against the Orlando Magic, the Knicks seemed to have found some confidence going into the Sunday matinee at the Garden against the Boston Celtics. That was until they stepped on the court. This one seemed to be over in the first quarter, where the Knicks were 0 for 9 from the field to start the game, with ball movement being inexistent.
The Atlantic Division leading Celtics opened up the game with a 25-3 lead, which quickly became 34-11 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Knicks would trail the entire game and were down by double digits for 45 out of 48 minutes during the game. In a complete no show from the Knicks it seemed all the promising ball movement they showed against Brooklyn and Orlando had completely disappeared. New York’s record dropped to 5-14 on the season in the third worst loss in team history.
The loss was so bad the Knicks flirted with their franchise low of ten points in the opening quarter as they had 7 points on the board with only 55 seconds left in the first quarter. Trailing by 27 at halftime, the Knicks 31 points were the lowest in a half by the team all season.
Raymond Felton and Iman Shumpert shot a combined 0 for 12 from the field and New York as a whole shot 34.2 percent on the day. Tim Hardaway Jr started his first career NBA game but would last long as he was quickly pulled from the game. If there was any strong point for the Knicks it was Amare’ Stoudemire, who scored 17 points on 5 of 7 from the field. Carmelo Anthony had 19 points on 5 of 15 shooting.
The Celtics had six players in double digits with Jordan Crawford leading the way with 23 points. Jared Sullinger added 21 while Avery Bradley had a double double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. The Celtics improved to 10-12 on the season as they lead a very weak Atlantic Division.
The Knicks will travel to Cleveland on Tuesday to face off with the Cavaliers. Before the game Sunday injured center Tyson Chandler was on the court for a light workout and shoot around. He hasn’t been cleared to run yet but he has not had any setbacks. There is still no word on a possible return date for Chandler as the Knicks anxiously await the return of their center.
Tyler Henry: PureSportsNY