Knicks Win Big

Yesterday I had the pleasure of watching the Knicks comfortably beat the Pistons 121-100 at Madison Square Garden. The garden is rocking again, and as a fan nothing could make me happier. Here's the recap as shown on NBA.com





Firstly, I will always encourage attending sporting events with your dad -- they always provide insight of some kind. Whether it is insight about basketball or life, or usually some mixture of the two, I'm telling you it is never a bad idea.

The Knicks, for the most part, controlled this game. The Pistons, now well recognized as another lifeless franchise destroyed by an over expanded league, provided patches of resistance during the second quarter. But honestly this game was never in question. Carmelo Anthony, as he has done a number of times this season, came out firing. He scored 15 of his 29 points in the first quarter by making a number of threes (4-5 from 3pt on the day), and incorporating a silky finger role. But beyond the stats, you have to say he looks so much more comfortable then he did last season. Thus far he has displayed a much keener awareness of his role on the team. He is focused on leading purely by example, and leaning on the older core of veterans (Tyson Chander, Kurt Thomas, Jason Kidd, Rasheed Wallace) who flank Mike Woodson, to do most of the vocal leading.

The same vocal leadership has inspired the reincarnation of JR Smith. In one sequence during the 3rd quarter, he stripped the ball away from Rodney Stuckey (no shlub), led the fast-break, and made a  quality semi no look shovel-pass to Tyson Chandler for the provocative finish (thank you Clyde).

Plays like that are indicative of his new attitude. Lets look at his stat-line from Sunday:

15 points (3-8FG, 1-4 3pt FG, 8-8FTs), 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal

Now, JR has rightfully earned a reputation as a "chuck" (someone with poor shot selection and a generally "I don't give a F**K what you guys think, I'm getting mine" attitude). But this season is different for a few reasons. On the surface this seems like classic JR, he shot 3-8 from the field took a fair share of bad shots. But here's where the professionalism of the Knicks locker room is having an effect. He's beginning to affect the game in other ways. For starters, since when does JR Smith get 10 rebounds in a basketball game ever? On the season he's averaging 5.1, a full 2.2 above his career average. Like Melo, JR's game is more focused, as is evidenced by his improved free throw shooting, passing (shown above), and dare I say newfound defensive intensity? If JR continues to perform like this he could be unbelievably valuable. The Knicks will ultimately need a tri-headed monster of him, Ronnie Brewer, and Shump Shump (check out his flattop if you haven't already its awesome) in countering Dwayne Wade's offense as the Knicks futilely attempt to stop Lebron from his second consecutive title.

Until Next Time:

Stay Fly Fanatics