Arron Afflalo Makes Season Debut in Thrilling Knicks Game

Arron Afflalo made his regular season debut against the Charlotte Hornets on Veterans Day.

Afflalo started the game well, being very aggressive early on. Afflalo scored six points in the first quarter but went scoreless in the second quarter. Afflalo is most likely still feeling the ill-affects of his hamstring injury, as he looked a lot less effective and aggressive after resting on the bench.

Kristaps Porzingis got off to a good start as well, going a perfect 4/4 in the first quarter for eight points. But yet again… Porzingis got into early foul trouble… and was forced to take a seat on the bench.

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New York led 27-18 after one-quarter of play with Afflalo and Porzingis great play early on. Although Charlotte would completely erase that lead behind the combination of Jeremy Lin (remember him?) and Jeremy Lamb. Team Jeremy scored 13 points in a 16-4 Hornets’ run that tied the game up at 35 midway through the second quarter.

Charlotte took a two point advantage entering halftime 49-47, with Nicolas Batum leading the way with 11 first half points. Batum finished the game with 24 points.

Carmelo Anthony continued his early season struggles, going 4/13 in the first half for nine points. Porzingis despite early foul troubles almost collected a double-double in the first half with 10 points and 9 rebounds.

Anthony came out of halftime like a man possessed, scoring ten straight points on a couple of three-pointers and pull-up jumpers. This was very similar to Tuesday night, where Anthony erupted for 17 points in second quarter. Anthony almost matched that effort Wednesday night, as he erupted for 15 points in the third quarter, leading the way for a 79-69 Knicks advantage entering the final period of play.

https://twitter.com/nyknicks/status/664614781777747968

Batum kept the Hornets in the game in the third quarter, converting half of Charlotte’s field goal in the period. The Hornets really struggled form the field, shooting just 34.8% in the period.

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Team Jeremy again got the Hornets back into the game, scoring nine points in a 15-3 run that put Charlotte ahead 84-82 with 7:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. New York went close to five minutes with just a Lou Amundson and-one score…five minutes…

The game would go down to the wire again, much like Tuesday night. And much like the previous night, the game would again be decided by the referee.

But first, while the game was tied at 93, Lance Thomas who was the hero Tuesday night, committed a foolish foul on Cody Zeller Wednesday night. Zeller was sent to the charity stripe to potentially put Charlotte ahead but missed both free-throws. Although he would quickly redeem himself with the game winning layup, after Anthony missed on his attempt to put the Knicks ahead on the other end.

Porzingis with .6 seconds remaining on the clock, looked like he hit a miraculous three-pointer to steal the game but after further review, the referees ruled that the Porzingis did not get the ball out of his hand on time…

Bummer… could have been a really cool moment in Porzingis’ early rookie career. In a way it kind of still was. It was really nice to see how happy he was, and more importantly how happy his teammates were for him. Porzingis finished the game with 10 points and 15 rebounds, setting a new career high in total rebounds. It was encouraging to see Porzingis bounce back to play so well after his worst game in the early season the previous night.

Anthony finished the game with 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Personally, I felt that Anthony should have called a timeout instead of settling for that jumper…prior to Zeller’s game winning layup. Although…he is our franchise player and has made those clutch shots throughout his career…but still…call a timeout Melo…

Afflalo finished the game with 12 points and 6 rebounds, with ups and downs in his regular season debut. Nonetheless it is great to finally see Afflalo on the floor for the orange and blue.

Next: Lance Thomas Steps Up in Victory over Raptors

The Hornets really dominated the game with their second unit Wednesday night. Team Jeremy led the way for 45 bench points. Lin scored 17 points in the Hornets victory, including a couple of clutch shots late in the game. Funny how he gets up for Knicks game…sighhh…