After their roughest stretch of the season, the Knicks needed a winning week to get their legs. And they got it, even if it was far from perfect.
It started with a convincing team effort in a 100-83 win over the Spurs, peaked with an overly-dramatic 114-106 victory over the Magic in Orlando, and ended with an exciting but disappointing 102-96 loss to the Celtics that, despite the absence of Rajon Rondo, ended in familiar fashion. It was the win in Orlando that made the week a success. A loss to the Magic and it would have been a second straight unsuccessful week for a team shuffling along. Instead, they've won two of three and, despite the loss to Boston, have a chance to build momentum as they speed along towards midseason.
The 2-1 week brings the Knicks to 23-11, tops in the Atlantic Divison and second in the Eastern Conference where they are just one game behind the defending champion Heat.
What Went Right This Week: Against San Antonio, Pablo Prigioni played his best game as a Knick, scoring six points and dishing out nine assists, including the one above that got the Garden buzzing as much as any play this season. The Knicks showed killer instinct in that game too, running the tired Spurs off the court with a 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter. They also showed they don't need a dominant performance from Carmelo if they are going to beat a good team (he had a quiet 23 points).
Marcus Camby, now starting at starting power forward, showed that he's in game shape and started to have an impact. Playing between ten and fifteen minutes per game, he's rebounded and protected the rim in a way Kurt Thomas can't, and has done some nice passing from the high post, connecting with Tyson Chandler for a couple of pretty alley-oops against Orlando (in case anyone's counting, that's fourteen feet of player connecting for a dunk. Not too shabby).
In addition to a new starting lineup, Coach Woodson has also employed JR Smith in a primary ballhandling role at times, allowing Jason Kidd to go back to playing off the ball. Smith's responded by making some nice plays for others, especially off the pick and roll. Smith continued his stellar play, averaging 20.7 per game and cementing his status as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate.
Against Orlando, the Knicks were able to erase an eight-point fourth quarter deficit behind the play of Smith and Anthony as they scored or assisted all but one of the Knicks fourth quarter field goals. Anthony put on a show in that quarter, scoring sixteen points on an array of punishing drives and unguardable jump shots that few in the league are capable of (he finished with 40, his third time getting to that mark this year). Smith, for his part, assisted on the game clinching three from Kidd with 1:45 to go.
Amar'e Stoudemire made strides in his comeback as well. He looked tentative and lost against San Antonio and had an unspectacular outing against Orlando. But against Boston, he showed a flash or two, even blowing past Kevin Garnett for a patented Amar'e tomahawk.
That All Sounds Great. What's the Catch?: Stomach punching the Spurs in the second half was great, but the Knicks continued their disturbing trend of allowing second-rate opponents to jump out to big leads in Orlando where they spotted the Magic a twelve point advantage and gave up 36 first quarter points.
And although their turnover numbers haven't gone through the roof, the Knicks have been prone to sloppy stretches lately as they've adjusted to playing with only one point guard at a time. A hideous game from Prigioni against the Celtics didn't do anything to slow that trend. He finished with four turnovers in just fifteen minutes and the Knicks were a disturbing -19 during his time on the court.
Coming out flat against bad teams signals a lack of mental fortitude. So does getting into it with opponents. Against Boston, for the first time of significance this season, the Knicks got caught up in extracurriculars as Carmelo Anthony allowed Kevin Garnett to climb inside his head and have a dance party.
Already mired in his worst game of the season, Anthony let Garnett's typical operatics goad him into picking up his fifth foul and take difficult shot after difficult shot (he finished with twenty points on 6-26 shooting). Matters weren't helped by Paul Pierce sticking yet another dagger in the Knicks to ice the game with 45 seconds left.
Anthony didn't leave it on the court either: he sought to continue his confrontation with Garnett in the Celtics locker room after the game. There's no doubt the commissioner's office will be unhappy with that, especially considering Melo's history.
Player of the Week: Tyson Chandler, king of the one-handed tip-out rebound, had a ridiculous week. He again caught alley after alley, rebounding and anchoring the Knicks defense. He averaged 12.3 points and 14.3 rebounds and was a whopping +39 over the course of the three games. All he does is make life hard for opponents.
Up Next: The Knicks go to Indiana Thursday to play a Pacers team that's recovering nicely from a tough start to the season. They follow that up with a Friday night home game with Chicago, a team that always gives them fits and finish the week with a Sunday matinee against the lowly Hornets. It's likely to be another week where beating a bad opponent determines success or failure. They better not come out flat.
You can follow Jonathan Fishner on Twitter @therealkingfish, and check out his blog The Real King Fish.
