The Knicks made their return to Madison Square Garden following a successful trip through the state of Texas which seen them take 2 out of 3 games against current western conference playoff teams. Tyson Chandler would miss the game due to a respiratory infection but NY did get a boost to their rotation with the return of starting point guard, Raymond Felton who had missed the previous 6 games with a groin injury.
It was all Andrea Bargnani in the early going as the seven footer scored 9 points in the opening quarter but the Knicks couldn’t push the lead to double digits due to Detroit’s big frontline of Drummond, Monroe & Smith, all of whom crashed the boards often and early notching eight second chance points in the first. The two teams headed into the intermission tied at 41 in a game that had become very lethargic and sloppy. New York would miss on 25 of their final 31 field goal attempts to end the half and were just 4-9 from the charity stripe.
Whatever Coach Mike Woodson told the team in the locker room had a profound effect on their play especially Carmelo Anthony (34pts) who connected on a triad of three pointers en route to a 15-0 run for the Knicks. New York also ratcheted up the defensive intensity registering 6 steals that lead to some easy transition points. Amar’e Stoudemire put an exclamation point to the quarter with an emphatic one handed reverse jam off a beautiful spin move on the baseline.
This is the NBA though and on most night’s teams down big will make a run and last night was no different. Reserves, Charlie Villanueva, Kyle Singler and Will Bynum provided the impetus for a 15-4 Pistons run cutting New York’s lead to just three. The Knicks would have an answer though and his name was Melo, connecting on his 6th three pointer of the game and on the ensuing defensive possession, Kenyon Martin would swat Andre Drummond’s put back attempt into the first row. Consecutive turnovers by Felton provided continued hope for Detroit but a couple of key misses from the line for Detroit followed by a Josh Smith air ball seemed to doom Detroit. Anthony would secure the offensive rebound off a Felton miss at the line and would seal it from there with two more makes.
It wasn’t pretty but New York found a way to hold on and continue to build on what is undoubtedly their best stretch of what has otherwise been a tumultuous season.
Final score Knicks 89 Pistons 85.
Notes
Only the second time NY has won consecutive games this season
Josh Smith finished the game with 21pts, 12reb & 8 turnovers
Detroit out rebounded NY 54-38
Anthony was 6-7 from downtown
Wilson Caicedo: PureSportsNY