Knicks Stop Skid in Boston, But Fall in OT to Toronto

By | 2016-10-28T19:24:09-08:00 December 16th, 2014|News|Comments Off on Knicks Stop Skid in Boston, But Fall in OT to Toronto

With troublesome stretches during a season, often will come turmoil in the locker room, but even through a rough beginning of the year, Derek Fisher’s New York Knicks have stayed together.

That team dynamic was especially apparent Friday night, when New York rode a 10-game losing streak on the road to a rivalry contest against the Boston Celtics. At the TD Garden, the Knicks lost one of their key players to injury, and they still held on to stop their skid.

New York Knicks v Boston Celtics

D-Fish was asked what was the key to the Knicks victory, and he said just that: New York stuck together.

“We’re a team,” Derek said with a smile after Friday night’s game. “I thought that was very apparent tonight.”

MELO’S RETURN New York Knicks v Boston Celtics

New York is hobbling through the season with a myriad of injuries, and Carmelo Anthony is the poster child of the cause. Despite dealing with multiple different injuries throughout the year, Anthony made his way out on the court and helped lead his team with 22 points, five rebounds and three blocks.

After missing Wednesday’s game, Melo came ready to play Friday night. With the Knicks up 11-6, Anthony dished the ball out to Quincy Acy to work the ball inside. Anthony took exception to his sore knee, and slithered his way into an open crevice where Acy got him the ball, and allowed him to knock down the quick jumper. He had eight points in the first quarter, and New York took an early 26-19 lead.

ANOTHER MAN DOWN

The Knicks and Celtics continued to trade blows into the second, and things looked to be going New York’s way before the injury bug took another bite out of a Knickerbocker playmaker.

Up 41-39, Anthony narrowly missed a deep jumper, which bounced right to an awaiting Tyler Zeller for the Celtics. Zeller quickly passed the ball to Jeff Green, and Iman Shumpert routinely stuck his arm out to bat away the incoming pass. Unfortunately, as he reached out he took contact on his joint, dislocating his shoulder.

Another untimely injury provided an additional setback for the Knicks, but Fish said the team used the motivation of their fallen teammate to re-energize themselves, and play harder.

“Even with losing Iman during the course of the game, and that was emotional for the guys to lose another player, they just stayed together through the ups and downs of the game.” Fish said.

New York Knicks v Boston Celtics

The team banded together and finished out the half strong. With the clock winding down, Melo took what appeared to be the last shot for the Knicks before halftime. The ball bounced off the rim, and straight to Tim Hardaway Jr. who took his own three point shot, and buried it to end the half at 51-46.

 

FINISHING STRONG

Many times during their losing streak, a poor start forced the Knicks to work from behind—but after starting strong against the C’s, the Knicks came into the second half in good position. They kept their intensity levels high, and continued to build on their lead. Up 69-60, Jose Calderon tossed up a funky lob pass to Amar’e Stoudemire, who tipped it in to give New York a seven point lead.

In atypical fashion, Fish had his team continue to pressure the Celtics in the paint, and try to build on their 75-69 lead. Anthony charged in trying to lay the ball in, but a swarm of Celtic defenders mugged him as he went up for his shot. With no foul called, D-Fish fired off the bench with some emotion, showing some intensity not often seen by the levelheaded coach.

With a strong defensive performance that forced 18 turnovers and five blocks, the Knicks held their lead for the rest of the night, and cruised toward their much needed win.

Fish said he felt good about his team’s performance after the game.

“I thought the guys kept finding ways to work together and utilize some things we’ve been working on down the stretch,” he said. “We were determined to get some defensive stops even if we weren’t scoring offensively. That’s what was great to see, that every guy who touched the floor gave us something, and that’s what we need every night.”

TORONTO TEST

After finishing off the Celtics Friday night, the Knicks traveled back to MSG to take on the Toronto Raptors, who have proven to be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, on Sunday.

Determined to continue their momentum, Fisher made another roster change when he started Hardaway in place of the injured Iman Shumpert.

Toronto Raptors v New York Knicks

Hardaway has shown a lot of promise this season with his three point shooting and ability to make great plays in tough situations. Hardaway saw ups and downs in his first start of the season, as he put up 18 points and six rebounds, along with a team-high five turnovers.

“Tim’s coming along,” Fish said. “He’s understanding more how to utilize his strengths when he’s out there on the floor…He’s an important player for us because of this activity, his ability to run the floor and shoot the basketball. He’s getting better defensively, but that’s an area we want to continue to see growth in.”

He was clearly pumped for his new starting role, as he turned in a game-high nine points in the first, followed by Anthony’s eight, as the Knicks played to a 27-27 tie after one.

Toronto Raptors v New York Knicks

However, with the Knicks up 42-40 in the second, Hardaway had trouble handling the ball around an aggressive Toronto D, and lost the ball to Patrick Patterson, who found a streaking Terrance Ross for an easy two. Despite a total of nine turnovers in the second period, the Knicks held strong defensively and took a 46-45 lead into the break.

REFUSAL TO LOSE

After leading the half by a single point, the Knicks battled back and forth fighting for possession of the lead.

Down 74-71, New York’s Travis Wear lost handle of the ball and had it nabbed by Lou Williams. Williams sprinted down the court with the stolen basketball, but Shane Larkin contested him all the way down court and stole it back. Larkin then quickly found an open spot beyond the arc, and buried a triple to tie the game back up.

After Anthony tied the game at 86-86 with a quick layup in the fourth, the Raptors had the final possession of regulation. Kyle Lowry took the inbound with two seconds remaining, but good defense from Samuel Dalembert forced an errant shot, and sent the game into overtime.

CLOSE CALL

Overtime saw a different Knicks team, which scratched and clawed its way against the Celtics to secure a victory despite being riddled with injuries.

The Knicks looked tired in OT, and faltered thanks to a big performance by Lowry in the final frame. The Raptors went on to take the game 95-90, and Fish said he was proud of his exhausted team for putting together a good performance against a tough squad.

“We’ve played a lot of games in a short amount of time,” Derek said. “Fatigue is always a factor, and the teams and the players that are able to play through it and get the wins are the ones that win.”

NEXT UP

After a day of rest, the Knicks (5-21) return back to MSG to take on the Dallas Mavericks (17-8) for another tough cross-conference matchup.

The Mavs topped the Knicks 109-102 in overtime on the night before Thanksgiving.

Tip off is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST on ESPN.

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