Knicks Lose Big 116-88 After Robin Lopez Ejection

By William Lee | Jan 22, 2016

Jan 22, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Referee Dedric Taylor (21) stops New York Knicks center Robin Lopez (8) from going after Los Angeles Clippers players during second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports /

88. 27. 116. 77. Final

New York Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony was named as a starter to 2016 NBA All-Star Game on Thursday night.

The first quarter in Madison Square Garden looked like it was holding All-Star festivities, but it was the Los Angeles Clippers that were putting on the show…

Paul Pierce knocked down two early three-pointers, as Los Angeles just continued to make it rain from beyond the arc. It was like a three-point contest out there for the Clippers, making nine three-pointers by halftime – which is essentially their average made-threes per game (9.1 three-pointers per game).

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The Knicks are the fourth best at contesting three-pointers, forcing opponents to shoot 32.4% from downtown. New York sure did not look like it Friday night… allowing Los Angeles to shoot an astonishing 56.5% when it was all said and done.

When the Clippers were not making the game look like a three-point shootout, they were making it look like a dunk contest…

DeAndre Jordan was dunking FOR FUN! Jordan had four dunks in the first quarter alone… three consecutive midway through the period. DeAndre 3000 finished the game with 20 points on 7/7 shooting, all dunks…

Los Angeles was shooting close to 60% from the field after one-quarter of play… The only reason New York did not fall too far behind, was because the Knicks went on a frantic 7-0 to end the opening quarter. Derrick Williams led the charge, closing the gap to 31-24 with four quick-points, highlighted by a nasty breakaway dunk!

REPLAY: Look OUT below! @DWXXIII w/ the highlight finish. #NYKvsLAC

Clippers 35 Knicks 28 2Q. pic.twitter.com/vj7RI3NtUl
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 23, 2016

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Chris Paul was destroying the Knicks… dishing out eight assists in the first quarter, most of it alley-opp lobs to Jordan…

In the second quarter New York could never cut into Los Angeles’ lead, every time the Knicks pulled within single digit, it seemed like the Clippers answered with a dunk or a three-pointer. Los Angeles went into halftime with a 55-45 lead.

Midway through the third quarters, tempers flared as Robin Lopez smacked Paul across the face after a battle for the rebound. Lopez was ejected out of the game after a very lengthy official review, which led to the crowd getting restless and booing.

It will be interesting to see if Lopez will be further penalized going forward, the altercation could be seen as a punch…

The scuffle definitely fired up Chris Paul, as he went on to score 14 of his total 16 points in the third quarter. Paul finished the game with 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 13 assists.

It was barely a game after the Lopez-Paul altercation, as the Clippers went on to smack the Knicks 116-88. The fourth quarter essentially became garbage time. Although it was nice to see former-Knicks, Cole Aldrich, Pablo Prigioni, and Jamal Crawford play in garbage time.

New York was held to 38.8% shooting on the night, but the starters especially struggled. The Knicks starters were a combined 14/50 from the field Friday night, equating to 28% shooting… The Clippers are the 8th best defensive team in the league, forcing opponents to convert on only 43.8% of their attempts per NBA.com.

The loss marked the largest margin of defeat to date midway through the 2015-2016 season. One of the more perplexing things that occurred in the loss, was that when head coach Derek Fisher employed “hack-a-Jordan” – it was the prized rookie Kristaps Porzingis giving the fouls…

Next: The Sudden Ascendancy of Derrick Williams

New York will have a quick turnaround to wash the foul taste of the blowout loss out of their mouth, heading to face the Charlotte Hornets immediately.

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