A Christmas Miracle: My Knicks-Celtics Thoughts

Melo makes the Garden rock.

As I finished having breakfast with my family after opening presents on Christmas morning, I realized that there were only 45 minutes left before the tip-off of the NBA season. I rushed through a shower, threw on some clothes, and hurried downstairs just in time to catch the Knicks and Celtics open the 2011-12 season. And boy am I glad that I didn't miss a second of the game.

It was an instant classic between two teams that genuinely seem to dislike each other, and that made the match-up even more intriguing than I was expecting. The game was chippy from the start, and stayed that way until the end, when after missing the potential game-tying jumper, Kevin Garnett (who even Celtics fans think is a somewhat dirty player) and Homeless Bill Walker (I call him Homeless because he looks and plays like someone who has been sleeping on the street) got into a scuffle. Homeless, a former Celtic, exchanged some words with KG, who proceeded to grab him by the throat. The incident was brief, but it summed up the game very well: it was a hard-fought battle that the Knicks eventually won.


I really liked the way the Knicks played for stretches of time, especially in the first half, when they led by 17 at one point and took a 10 point lead into the locker room at halftime. However, that good play was marred by equally brutal play during the 3rd quarter when the Celtics, led by Rajon Rondo's monster game (31pts, 13ast, 5stl) outscored the Knickerbockers 35-17. New York, led by Carmelo Anthony's 17 points in the final quarter, roared back into the game and won 106-104. I had some quick thoughts about this game, on both how the Knicks and Celtics played.

• Rajon Rondo played out of his mind, but I think that was largely a product of horrible transition defense by the Knicks. Rondo scored three or four easy layups that were uncontested by a slow-to-get-back defense, and he hit Marquis Daniels with a great pass to score another easy bucket. Rondo hit some shots that I haven't seen him consistently sink before, but again, he was poorly covered by Toney Douglas, who seemed overmatched by the length & athleticism of Rondo. Before Iman Shumpert, the Knicks' 1st round pick this year, went down with a sprained MCL, he did a decent job of covering Rondo and stopping his drives to the basket. We'll see if Rondo can produce the way he did on Christmas, especially against a tougher defense that has played together for more than 2 preseason games.

•  The Knicks looked good on offense when Carmelo was in the game, but seemed somewhat lost when he was on the bench for stretches of time. Amar'e Stoudemire played well and went 2-2 from behind the arc, a skill he worked on all offseason. STAT will have to rely more and more on his ranged shooting game, since Tyson Chandler will draw defenders to the paint, where Stoudemire has historically made the majority of his points off of pick-and-rolls. If he keeps up this improved long-shot game, he will get opportunities on mismatches when bigger defenders are drawn to a slashing Anthony or Chandler under the rim.

• Otis Smith is a fool. I know, why am I talking about the Orlando Magic general manager in a post about the Knicks & Celtics? Two words: Brandon Bass. Bass dominated the glass against the Knicks, grabbing 11 rebounds and scoring 20 points in 28 minutes off the bench. When he subbed in for Garnett or the corpse of Jermaine O'Neal, the Celtics looked like a better team than the Knicks. Otis Smith plays a role in this because he basically gave away Bass in a sign-and-trade for Glen 'Big Baby' Davis and  Von Wafer (who I seriously thought was out of the league), who have scored a combined 30 points in two games this season. Ask a Celtics fan if that was a good trade, and you'll hear my point being reinforced.

• Last one: the Knicks when playing at home this season, will be a really tough team to beat. I saw Madison Square Garden rock in a way that I can't remember seeing since the days of Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston (before the horrible knee injuries), and Grandmama Larry Johnson. Melo is a legitimate crunch time scorer, as he showed Sunday afternoon, and when he and STAT get going, the crowd really gets fired up. I also love how coach Mike D'Antoni has had Anthony take more of a Larry Bird-esque point-forward role when there isn't a real point guard on the floor. Melo made some seriously sweet passes to open guys in this game, and he'll have to continue doing that if the Knicks are going to be as successful as they hope to be this season. Personally, I think Melo has that skill set & will continue growing into the point-forward role. Another aspect of the Knicks' performance on Sunday that really made the crowd go nuts was, surprisingly, the defensive effort not seen since Jeff Van Gundy was the coach. Chandler didn't have a great game rebounding and points-wise, but he had 6 blocks and Carmelo made a key block in the final minutes that helped the Knicks win the game. Like I said, when the Knicks play the way they did on Sunday (hopefully slightly better on D) at home, they will make it tough on opposing teams.

I'll leave you with this awesome YouTube clip of Carmelo Anthony playing out of his mind in this game, and you'll be able to see what I mean. If this keeps up, the Eastern Conference contenders, including the vaunted Miami Heat, will have to watch their backs. As STAT said in his introductory press conference: the Knicks are back.

-Cote