Knicks vs Mavs: Monta And Dirk Storm MSG

Nov 26, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; New York Knicks forward Amar

At a measly 5-20, the Knicks will be back at home to take on the 17-8 7th seeded Mavericks. Monta Ellis, my undisputed NBA spirit animal, and Dirk Nowitzki‘s patented, indefensible, one-legged jump shot arrived at MSG. Do we see another banked buzzer-beater from Dirk like last year, or do we see J.R. Smith being J.R. Smith?

The Mavericks’ last fixture was against the hotter-than-hell Golden State Warriors, who have now won a whopping 16 games in a row, after their win against the Pelicans. Still, the Mavericks have a thick cushioning as the 7th seed, with the Pelicans below them at the 8th and, if the playoffs were to start today, they would have to face the red hot Memphis Grizzlies, who sit at 19-4 as the 2nd seed. Hooray for Western Conference dominance…(!) and Eastern Conference roadkill!

As I said above, Monta Ellis and Dirk (Dirk deserves being called by only his first name) are the main attractions. Ever since Ellis signed with the Mavs, he’s thrived as the primary offensive facilitator; he needed a new home that wasn’t the Bucks, who had another high volume shot-chucking distributor in Brandon Jennings and needed to find a playoff contending team. And here he is distributing and scoring at nice rates. Ellis is averaging 20.7 points, 4.5 assists and 1.4 steals on a usage of 29.2% in 33.7 minutes a game. Dirk is averaging 19 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists a contest in 29.7 minutes a game. Not too shabby.

Probably the biggest sleeper signing this past offseason was Chandler Parsons (who wasn’t even making a million dollars on his previous rookie contract) from the Rockets, and he’s having quite a season as well. He’s been on a scoring tear his last four games scoring 23.3 points a contest, to go along with 4.4 rebounds and 2 assists. His seasonal averages are 16.3 points a game, 5 rebounds, 2.3 assists and just under a steal in 33.6 minutes a contest on a .553 TS%.

And, of course, the most eventful storyline of this game is Tyson Chandler making his return to New York. I’m going to be expecting nothing but ovations and cheering, because if there are actually people that blatantly boo him, then I guess having a former DPOY that guided a poopy defensive team to 5th in overall DRtg back in 2011-12 is not a big deal. His leadership is sorely missed by the Knicks, as he was the minister of the Knicks defense and pretty much oversaw everything while trying to quarterback the defense. Carmelo Anthony said it best in a Daily News article written by Peter Botte:

"“I don’t think they need to boo him or anything. The only reason you boo him (is) because he’s on another team. If you want to do that then you should boo everybody that’s on another team. I don’t think you should boo him because he left the New York Knicks.”"

Hey, Melo, I’m totally on the same page as you are.

Apparently, Rick Carlisle said that Raymond Felton is “working hard,” after he partook in a 45 minute “vigorous workout.” The cupcake man won’t be playing, as he hasn’t played a single game with the Mavericks ever since the inception of the trade that brought former Mavs point guard Jose Calderon to the Knicks. Ho-hum.

Alas, the Knicks fell short in their last game against the Raptors by five in overtime on Sunday, and if they won that game, they could have tied their biggest winning streak of two games this year. Unfortunately, that didn’t come to fruition, but hey, the silver lining is that they’re better than the Sixers and eyes will pretty much be on the draft lottery throughout this season, not that they haven’t been recently. Let’s get the ball rolling.

Injuries:

Knicks: Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith

What To Watch For:

• Now that Iman Shumpert is out with a dislocated shoulder for a month, (which tore me apart), and J.R Smith is a game time decision due to a partial plantar fascia tear, Tim Hardaway Jr.’s minutes should increase.
• Aside from Tyson Chandler’s return to the Garden, we wonder if he will eviscerate the Knicks on the glass like he did against them in Dallas, in which he snagged 25 rebounds. I’m expecting at least 10 rebounds.

Hopefully the Knicks can build off Sunday’s quality play and don’t run out of gas this time.