December 25, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; New York Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony (7) reacts during the 100-94 loss against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Game Stats
Field Goal Percentage: 42.7 %( 38-of-89)
Opponent’s Field Goal Percentage: 48.1% (37-of-77)
Three Point Percentage: 34.6% (9-of-26)
Opponent’s Three Point Percentage: 23.8% (5-21)
Free Throw Percentage: 56.3% (9-of-16)
Opponent’s Free Throw Percentage: 67.7% (21-31)
Assists: 20-22 (Lakers +1)
Rebounds: 40-42 (Lakers +2)
Points in the paint: 36-32 (Knicks +4)
Individual Grades
Refs: My basketball coach tells us that the refs make around 7 bad calls a game – so before you get mad at the call, count how many bad calls there have been. Last night there were way more than 7 bad calls. In the third quarter, a terrible call occurred where Novak was passing it out to Felton and the ball hit Mike D’antoni shirt (he was in bounds) and Felton caught the ball in bounds. The refs called it out of bounds. In the 4th there was a myriad of bad calls – a couple travels, a double dribble by Metta World Peace, a push from behind by Jordan Hill on an Alley-oop attempt to Chandler, and a hold by Bryant on an inbounds pass to Carmelo. Grade: D-
Raymond Felton (10 points, 5-of-19 shooting, 1 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steal, 0 turnovers)
Felton once again struggled with his shot, missing open layups and his floaters down the stretch. I think his floater is a great weapon, but for him to be shooting one from the free throw line is not how to utilize a floater. Instead he should jump stop and taken a short jumper. On the defensive end, for him to let Nash, a 38 year old who just came back from a broken leg make 16 points, most of them coming in the 4th quarter is unacceptable. I know Felton is banged up with a sprained Pinkie, but his aggressive defense is such a big part of his game. Grade: D
December 25, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; New York Knicks point guard Jason Kidd (5) shoots a three point basket against the Los Angeles Lakers during the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Jason Kidd (6 points, 2-of-5 shooting, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals)
Jason Kidd accomplished his job of knocking down a pair of open three pointers and moving the ball around especially to Carmelo. But there was a play that made me really mad where he passed up a wide open three (only 44% from 3) and almost turned the ball over with a no look pass to Felton/Carmelo. Grade: B
Kurt Thomas (6 point, 3-3 shooting, 3 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block)
Thomas got the start over Brewer today for the added height against the tall Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. In his limited minutes, he played solid defense on Pau Gasol and had a team high +11. Grade: B
Carmelo Anthony (34 points, 13-of-23 shooting, 7 rebounds, 3 Assists)
Carmelo Anthony shot pretty well, knocking down 3 threes and had some great drives to the basket. But he only was limited to 7 points in the 4th due to Artest’s aggressive defense. Down the stretch I really think Anthony should’ve received the ball more but it just shows his trust in his teammates to also provide some scoring. Grade: A-
Tyson Chandler (6 points, 3-of-7 shooting, 9 rebounds, 1 block)
Chandler had a tough matchup defensively against Dwight Howard but overall did a solid job, limiting him to 14 points. However, his boxing out wasn’t great especially on the free throw line. He tends to push the guy out instead of boxing out, leaving the ball up for grabs. Offensively, Chandler played like Hasheem Thabeet – he couldn’t catch the ball!!! Whether it was an alley-oop or a shovel pass, the ball jsut slipped through his hands. Grade: B
Ronnie Brewer (0 points, 0-of-3 shooting, 1 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 steal)
Brewer didn’t do much on either side of the ball in his 8 minutes of play. He missed open shots, and tried driving over 3 defenders. Woodson needs to see more production out of him as a starter or else Shumpert. Grade: D-
December 25, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; New York Knicks shooting guard J.R. Smith (8) shoots a three point basket against the defense of Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant (24) during the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
J.R. Smith (25 points, 10-of-23 shooting, 5 rebounds, 2 steals)
Smith was the spark off the bench the Knicks needed and he was efficient, ending the night with 25 points, knocking down a key three with over a minute left in the game. However he also missed the game tying three under a minute left in the game – it was a rushed, off balance shot where we which really closed the door on the Knicks getting the win. He surprisingly finished with a team high +/- of -18. Grade: B+
Steve Novak (3 points 1-2 shooting, 2 rebounds)
I thought I heard somewhere that Novak worked on shooting off the dibble. I have yet to see that this year. He looks nervous out there when he receives the ball when he’s not open. When you have guys that can shoot as well as Novak right now (Kidd, Carmelo, Smith) in addition to dribble and defend, what is the point of having Novak out there? Grade: D
Marcus Camby (4 points, 1-2 shooting, 4 rebounds 1 block)
Camby received some minutes in place of Rasheed Wallace and did a solid job by adding some size. Witt 2:21 left in the game, Tyson Chandler fouls out and Woodson has to make the decision of bring ing in Thomas or Camby. He decided to go with Camby who made a nice pass to Carmelo for a foul but then with 1:38 left, he tried to be the savior attempted a wild pass to Carmelo down low and costly turned the ball over. Grade: C+
Pablo Prigioni (0 points, 0-of-1 shooting, 1 rebound 1 assists)
White played only two minutes and wasn’t out there long enough to give a grade to. Grade: Incomplete
Chris Copeland (DNP Coach’s Decision)
Chris gave some positive handclapping on the bench.
James White (DNP Coach’s decision)
White gave JR Smith a lot of chest bumps.
Rasheed Wallace– DNP, Sore Left Foot