The New York Knicks fell 115-103 to the Orlando Magic. It was ugly. Who’s trending upward and who’s trending downward following the game?
Jodie Meeks looked like Ray Allen. Nikola Vucevic had a better midrange shot than Carmelo Anthony. Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton, two players who can’t shoot, made a combined four 3-point field goals.
In the process, the Orlando Magic trounced the New York Knicks 115-103 and handed Jeff Hornacek’s crew its fifth straight loss.
Here are three Knicks who were up (I can’t believe there’s this many either) and three who were down after the infuriating loss.
Three Up
Courtney Lee — Following a three-game absence, Courtney Lee shot 6-of-11 from the field—including a powerful put-back dunk—proving his sore wrist is a thing of the past. Disregarding his defense of Jodie Meeks (we’ll get to that later), Lee looked healthy and did positive things off the dribble—a great sign.
Derrick Rose — Once again, disregarding the guard’s defense for the majority of the game, Rose looked good on the offensive end of the floor. He shot above 50 percent from the field and exploded to the basket. He looks better and better every game in terms of his athleticism. Let’s hope it continues.
That was Derrick Rose's most powerful dunk of the year.
— Daily Knicks (@DailyKnicksFS) January 3, 2017
Mindaugas Kuzminskas — I know, I’m reaching, but I liked what Kuz brought to the floor Monday night. He went 3-of-3 from behind the three-point line, and—more importantly, according to Clyde Frazier—he looked confident while doing it. If he can improve his defense, and that’s a big if, Kuz should be a rotational player.
3 Down
Defending guards (i.e. Jodie Meeks) — Where do I even start? Jodie Meeks scored 17 points on six shots—in the first half. He finished with 23 points on nine shots, including 6-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. For perspective, Anthony shot 17 times and scored 19 points.
Carmelo Anthony — The team’s leader just didn’t have it. He shot below 40 percent from the field for the fifth time in the last six games and registered the worst plus-minus on the team (-14). He made one great play, though, in which he was triple teamed in the paint and found Lance Thomas in the corner for a wide-open three. Why can’t he do this more?
Hustle — Coming into the game, the Magic ranked No. 27 in three-point field goal percentage, No. 24 in field goal percentage and points per game, and No. 26 in offensive rating.
Yet, they shot 49.5 percent from the field, 48.4 percent from downtown—it was only that low because Gordon decided to start gun
ning toward the end of the game—and recorded 19 assists to just two turnovers in the first half.
I think the Knicks' pride was the final casualty of 2016
— Knicks Memes (@KnicksMemes) January 3, 2017
How is this possible? Well, Magic players were wide open all night. And, regardless of stats, NBA players are going to make wide open shots—it’s part of the reason they’re in the NBA.
Why were they wide open? The Knicks rank No. 14 in the NBA in contested shots per game, at about 63. Not too bad, but Kristaps Porzingis, who ranks second in that statistic, contests about 25 shots per game—almost 25 percent of the Knicks’ total.
Next: Evaluating Realistic Trade Options
Who missed the game? Bingo.