Knicks 96 Hornets 93: Are the Knicks Back?

After getting out to an early big lead, the New York Knicks managed to squeeze by the Charlotte Hornets, 96-93. In a game that featured an up and down ride, the Knicks came through when they needed it. While Carmelo Anthony had what ended up being the game winning shot with just under a minute to play, the Knicks actually got stops down the stretch.

This game was all too familiar to Knick fans: get a big lead, start to coast, lose the lead, and crumble in crunch time. However, tonight the Knicks allowed us to believe that they aren’t that team anymore. Having a reliable defense on possessions that you NEED stops is huge. Iman Shumpert was excellent stopping perimeter penetration, and Samuel Dalembert kept Al Jefferson off the score board in the final minutes. Even though the Knicks had two terrible possessions offensively to close out the game, it felt like they were going to actually get the stops at the other end to preserve the win.

After getting blown out by the Bulls on opening night, the Knicks have put together two quality wins in a row. Are the Knicks a legitimate team after all? It sure seems like the Knicks are picking up the triangle better each game, and they have started to even play defense occasionally! Like any other game, there were some good things and bad things that we should takeaway from tonight’s game.

Some Highlights…

• The triangle offense looked like a well-oiled machine in the first quarter when the Knicks were making their shots. Both Shumpert and J.R. Smith were hitting their open looks and also making the right pass on offense. Unfortunately, the offense came to a screeching halt in the second half when the shots stopped falling.
• J.R. Smith had some very nice moments in the first half running a pick and role with Jason Smith. With the right unit, J.R. can be a very effective distributor.
• Amar’e Stoudemire is officially back. The rejuvenated Stoudemire had 17 points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes. At one point, he was the only Knick actually scoring and kept the Knicks from completely fading in this game. His plus/minus was 0, mostly due to the fact that STAT had no chance against Jefferson in the post.
• Iman Shumpert was awesome. The enigmatic guard got off to a hot start, scoring 9 points in the first quarter before having to sit due to foul trouble. Shump finished with 15 points, including an enormous game tying three to make it 93-93 with just under two minutes. Shumpert’s +10 was noticeable as the Knicks were clearly a better team when he was on the court tonight.
• Melo had 28 much needed points on a solid 12-22 shooting.
• Dalembert and Quincy Acy were +11 a piece.
• Point guard play was not a problem tonight: Shane Larkin was +2 and Pablo Prigioni was +6.

Some Low-Lights…

• The Knicks late game offense was terrible. It was like they were trying to run triangle sets, but also iso Melo. Unsurprisingly, the Hornets doubled Melo and the offense came to a grinding halt. Need to find a way to have better spacing.
• Jason Smith can hit some mid range shots, but boy is he a liability on defense. He was -13 on the night and couldn’t guard Cody Zeller. Yikes.
• Quincy Acy shot a three. That will most likely be his first and last.
• Tim Hardaway Jr. continues to get shafted on playing time. In 10 minutes, the second year man was 4-5 from the field for 9 points. At +2, THJ made some shots when the offense was stalling yet was not rewarded late in the game. We knew it was going to be tough to play the three shooting guards, but this is even more difficult than expected.

Are the Knicks back? I sure as heck hope so. It was a lot more entertaining watching the last two games as opposed to whatever happened that first night. Maybe that win in Cleveland was as big for the team as it was for the fans. On to the next one.