The AP reports: Dwight Howard had 29 points and 14 rebounds, Hedo Turkoglu led a fourth-quarter rally, and the Magic tuned up for a showdown with Boston by beating the New York Knicks 106-102 on Monday night. Turkoglu scored 12 of his 16 points in the final period for the Magic, who lowered their magic number to one to clinch their second straight Southeast Division title… Courtney Lee scored 22 points on some clutch free throws shooting for the Magic, who have won three in a row, the last two coming in a sweep of a home-and-home series with the Knicks. Nate Robinson scored 19 on just 6-of-23 shooting for New York, which dropped its fifth straight in a late-season collapse after entertaining hopes of a playoff spot a week ago.
Category: New York Knicks Blog
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Knicks sign Courtney Sims to 10-day contract
The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that free agent center Courtney Sims has been signed to a 10-day contract. Sims, a member of the Iowa Energy, became the 16th Call-Up of the 2008-09 NBA Development League season.
Sims, 6-11, 245-pounds, was undrafted out of the University of Michigan and has played a total of 13 minutes in four NBA games with Indiana and Phoenix over the last two seasons. The Roslindale, MA-native was signed as a free agent by Indiana on Oct. 2, 2007 and played in three games last season with the Pacers before being waived on Dec. 19, 2007. Sims spent the remainder of the 2007-08 season and the beginning of this 2008-09 campaign with the NBA Development League’s Iowa Energy. He signed two 10-day contracts with the Phoenix Suns beginning on Jan. 20, 2009 and appeared in one game for the Suns this season.
Cheikh Samb’s 10-day contract had expired and the club elected not to re-sign him. The Knicks roster stands at 14 players.
Lewis’ 27 points leads Magic over Knicks 110-103
The AP reports: Rashard Lewis scored 27 points, Hedo Turkoglu added 20 and the surging Orlando Magic nearly blew a 15-point lead before holding off the New York Knicks 110-103 on Saturday night. The win kept Orlando (51-18) a game behind Boston—but tied in the loss column—for the Eastern Conference’s second-best record behind Cleveland… Rafer Alston had 17 points, and Dwight Howard battled foul trouble to score 15 for the Magic, who have won nine of their last 11 games. Quentin Richardson scored 33 points, and Nate Robinson added 27 for New York (28-41), which has lost four straight games and was dealt another crushing blow to its already grim playoff hopes.
Carter scores 29, helps Nets blow out Knicks
The AP reports: Vince Carter scored 29 points and the Nets salvaged the final game of their otherwise miserable five-game trip with a 115-89 victory over New York on Wednesday night… Brook Lopez added 23 points for the Nets, who put up 70 points across the middle two quarters, making 16 of 22 shots (73 percent) in the third, and cruised to a surprisingly easy victory in a game between teams fighting desperately to stay in the playoff race… Al Harrington scored 21 points, and Nate Robinson had 18 points for the Knicks, who went 3-2 on their trip and were opening a stretch where they play five of six at home.
Danilo Gallinari leaves for Italy, ponders back surgery
The New York Post (Mark Hale and Marc Berman) reports (via blog): Knicks rookie Danilo Gallinari’s season could be over. Gallinari left the team today for Italy and is again exploring whether to undergo back surgery, the Knicks announced this morning before practice. Gallinari returned to the club in late January after resting for more than eight weeks as the club opted again surgery for the bulging disc in his back. Gallinari, who had a disappointing road trip, punctuated by going scoreless in Cleveland, saw a back surgeon in New York yesterday and is off to Italy to seek more opinions.
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Knicks sign Demetris Nichols to second 10-day contract
The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that free agent guard Demetris Nichols has been signed to a second consecutive 10-day contract.
Signed to his first 10-day contract on Mar. 6, Nichols, 6-8, 216-pounds, has yet to appear in a game for New York.
The Knicks roster is currently at 14 players.
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Isiah Thomas is resurfacing
The New York Daily News (Frank Isola) reports: Isiah Thomas is slowly making the transition back into public life, first resurfacing with his successor and current boss, Donnie Walsh, at last week’s Pac-10 Tournament in Los Angeles and then appearing on an NCAA Tournament show in Las Vegas with his college coach Bobby Knight on Sunday. When reached by the Daily News Monday, Thomas politely declined an interview request. He would only say that he’s “feeling good” and that the last few weeks have been emotionally draining, referring to his former Pistons coach and long-time friend, Chuck Daly, being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and the death of Detroit Pistons owner William Davidson last week.
LeBron James is a Nate Robinson fan
New York Newsday (Alan Hahn) reports: Count LeBron James among the many stars in the NBA who admire Nate Robinson and what he brings to a game. “Love him,” James said before Robinson and the Knicks faced LeBron’s Cavaliers last night at Quicken Loans Arena. “One thing about Nate, there are certain players in this league that you know what you’re going to get out of them every night,” James said of Robinson’s boundless energy. “We have one like that in Anderson [Varejao]. Every night, you know you’re going to get high energy and they’re going to compete every night. “They’re going to make mistakes, but they play hard and they give it their all every night and you can live with that,” James added. “You can live with those type of players, and Nate is one of those players.”
Mo Williams scores 23, Cavs beat Knicks 98-93
The AP reports: Mo Williams scored 23 points, making all five of his 3-pointers, and James added 19 as the Cavaliers opened a crucial stretch of home games by beating the New York Knicks 98-93 on Sunday night… LeBron James, who came in with three triple-doubles in his last four games, flirted with another one but finished with 10 assists and eight rebounds. Al Harrington made five 3-pointers and scored 26 points for New York, which had its three-game winning streak stopped.The 5-foot-9 Robinson, the league’s dunk champion who James called a “physical freak” before the game, had 20. Lee had 14 rebounds.
Daniel Goldstein fighting Brooklyn Nets
The New Jersey Nets want to move to Brooklyn and become the Brooklyn Nets — unless they change the “Nets” name, which is possible but the guess is they keep it — but they have not yet been able to start the project due to various legal issues. The New York Daily News (Mike Lupica) reports:
Ratner owns another building on Pacific, empty now except for one apartment, the one owned by Daniel Goldstein, who still lives there with his wife and their child and fights on 5½ years after Ratner officially announced his plans for Ratner World. When Goldstein moved to Brooklyn in the 1990s, he worked as a graphic designer. Now his full-time job is with Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn and standing in there against Ratner and the Empire State Development Corp. He has been at this a long time, and plans to stay at it, even as Brett Yormark, the Nets CEO, promises that the Nets will be in Brooklyn for the 2011-12 season. “We’re like a resistance movement,” Goldstein was saying Saturday. Then he laughed and said, “Or maybe the U.S. soldiers who kept fighting in Japan after the war was over.”
Speaking now as a New Yorker who looks forward to being able to take the subway to both Knicks and Nets games, I think Daniel Goldstein is a jackass. More from the Daily News:
“There is no way the lawsuits can be resolved before the summer,” Goldstein said. “And if they haven’t broken ground before this year is over, there is a chance the whole thing falls apart.” He laughed then and said, “But that is all speculative. They are still adamant about building the arena and they are tough opponents and they have an approved project of this size in New York City. And they know that if they show signs of giving up, they could lose the rights to the land.”
And more:
Goldstein says that the offer was the same other people got from Ratner: 850 dollars per square foot. He says that he and his wife have their savings. He talks about the paycheck he receives from Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. He talks about financial hardship and says that he doesn’t know how long he can stay at this.
Again, speaking as a biased New Yorker for a moment rather than an objective journalist, I hope Daniel Goldstein loses his job and can’t afford to keep this up much longer. I want to go see the Brooklyn Nets.