New York Knicks Blog – Page 73 – NBA Blog

J.R. Smith leads Knicks to 7th win in a row

J.R. Smith hasn’t had a run like this since high school.

No NBA reserve has in more than two decades.

Smith scored 37 points, his third consecutive 30-point outing, and the New York Knicks beat the Charlotte Bobcats 111-102 on Friday night for their season-high seventh straight victory.

”He is focused. He is dialed in. Locked in,” Carmelo Anthony said. ”He is playing extremely well and his confidence is sky high. We are following his lead.”

Anthony had 32 points and Raymond Felton added 18 for the Knicks, who have the longest current streak in the NBA. They built a 30-point lead that was reduced to single digits for the second game in a row.

Gerald Henderson tied a career high with 35 points for the Bobcats. Kemba Walker added 16, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had 14 and Ben Gordon finished with 12.

Smith had 23 points at halftime, shooting 9 of 11 from the field. He is the first player with three straight 30-point games as a reserve since Ricky Pierce in 1990.

— Reported by Jeff Bernstein of the Associated Press

Knicks beat Grizzlies, get 6th straight win

Look who has the NBA’s longest winning streak now.

The New York Knicks, mired in a bad slump just two weeks ago, tied a season high with their sixth straight victory by holding off the Memphis Grizzlies, 108-101 on Wednesday night.

J.R. Smith scored 35 points, his second straight 30-point game, to help the Knicks withstand a furious rally.

”I started off establishing my game on the inside and moving on from there,” said Smith, who shot 10 of 18 from the field and 12 of 13 from the free throw line. ”Fortunately, I got a lot of calls, got to the free throw line and was making my free throws, except for one. My mom is going to kill me, but I’ll take it.”

Smith scored 32 points against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.

Carmelo Anthony added 22 points and Iman Shumpert had 16 for the Knicks, who started the season 6-0 but had played around .500 ball for much of the time since. They took over the NBA’s longest win streak after Miami’s 27-game run ended with a 101-97 loss in Chicago…

Mike Conley led Memphis with 26 points and Bayless finished with 24. Allen had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Marc Gasol, who missed the previous two games with an abdominal tear, finished with 13 points.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Former Knicks star Ray Williams dead at age 58

Ray Williams, a former Knicks captain who 30 years ago teamed with Michael Ray Richardson to form one of the NBA’s most flamboyant backcourts, died today at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Williams, 58, had been suffering from colon cancer.

A guard with a chiseled physique, Williams was drafted 10th overall by the Knicks in 1977. He came to New York during the bridge years, after the glory championship days of Willis Reed and Bill Bradley, and before Patrick Ewing arrived to lift the franchise.

In the meantime, Williams and Richardson brought sizzle to Madison Garden. Richardson was the taller, wiry slashing player. Williams was built more like a fullback, with well-defined thighs and arms. He entered the league not long before Magic Johnson, and he was of that mold, blurring the lines between positions. He was 6-foot-3 and moved smoothly between the responsibilities of point guard, scoring guard and small even small forward.

— Reported by Craig Wolff of the Newark Star-Ledger

Another strain for ailing Tyson Chandler

So now Tyson Chandler has a stiff neck too. Wonderful.

The Knicks announced yesterday Chandler missed his second straight game not because of his badly bruised left knee but because of a strained muscle in his neck. However, Chandler limped out of the locker room yesterday and didn’t stop to talk to reporters.

While Carmelo Anthony’s recently drained right knee is not expected to be ready for combat tonight in Utah, Chandler is closer to action. It’s become strange why Anthony even bothered to fly back to Los Angeles.

The Knicks said Chandler’s knee is virtually healed and the Knicks center has played through a sore neck earlier this season. Chandler said Wednesday night after the Denver game that he is very willing to play hurt, especially with the Knicks on the verge of an embarrassing 0-5 West Coast trip that will be hard to live down.

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

Kenyon Martin does not wish good things for the Clippers

Knicks forward Kenyon Martin played for the Clippers last season, but it’s clear the breakup between the two sides was a bit messy and Martin still holds some bitterness.

When asked about the Clippers, Martin quickly snapped: “I don’t care what they do, to be honest with you. I hope they lose every game.”

After a few more game-related questions, the topic of the Clippers’ fast breaking and dunking style arose, and Martin said, “They can’t do it in the playoffs, so it doesn’t matter. Regular season, it’s all up-and-down. We know how the game goes in the regular season.”

Finally, I asked him why there was bad blood between him and the Clippers and he simply said, “Next question.”

— Reported by Jovan Buha, special to ESPN New York

Knicks keeping an eye on Delonte West

The Knicks aren’t that desperate yet, but will be one of the teams monitoring the progress of mercurial point guard Delonte West, expected to make his D-League debut tonight when the Texas Legends host the Santa Cruz Warriors.

West is a super talent and super headache, but, at 29, a relative pup by Knicks standards. He hasn’t played all season but was effective last year with Dallas. The Knicks haven’t been thrilled with their point-guard play since Christmas, with Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd falling back to Earth, Iman Shumpert not being a reliable scorer and playmaking rookie Pablo Prigioni not enough of an offensive threat.

The Knicks don’t have a roster spot and rehabbing Rasheed Wallace is on the West Coast trip for “moral support,’’ coach Mike Woodson said. Woodson acknowledged he will sit down with general manager Glen Grunwald after the trip to explore options. Wallace would have to be cut to open a roster spot.

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

Knicks sign Kenyon Martin for remainder of season

The banged-up New York Knicks need all the healthy bodies they can get. Veteran forward Kenyon Martin qualifies.

Knicks Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations and General Manager Glen Grunwald announced today that the team has signed Martin for the remainder of the season, following two consecutive 10-day contracts originally signed on Feb. 23.

Martin, 6-9, 230-pounds, is averaging 5.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.17 steals over 18.9 minutes in six games.

Legendary New York high school coach Jack Curran dies at 83

Jack Curran, who spent more than a half century at Archbishop Molloy High School and was among the nation’s winningest prep coaches in basketball and baseball, has died. He was 83.

His death was confirmed Thursday by the Queens school. The family has yet to release further information, the school said.

Curran had been weakened by lung and kidney problems. He broke his kneecap last month when he slipped on ice while on his way to church. The mishap did not prevent him from attending church that day.

Curran coached 55 years at the school. In 1958, he became the basketball coach at what was then St. Ann’s Academy. He succeeded Lou Carnesecca, who left to coach St. John’s.

NBA players Brian Winters, Kevin Joyce, Kenny Smith and Kenny Anderson played under Curran at Archbishop Malloy. Curran was the winningest coach in New York state, with 972 victories in basketball and 1,708 in baseball.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Patrick Ewing will do some Knicks postgame coverage on MSG network

New York Knicks Legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing has wanted to work for the team — as a head or at least assistant coach — for quite some time now.

Well, this is something, at least.

Ewing will join MSG Network’s postgame coverage of the Knicks on Wednesday, March 20 when the team faces the Orlando Magic and on Sunday, March 31 when the Knicks take on the Boston Celtics. Both games are at Madison Square Garden and start at 7:30 p.m.

Immediately following each game, the 11-time NBA All-Star will appear on MSG’s Knicks postgame coverage, including the “Ford Knicks Postgame Show” and “Knicks Extra,” with host Al Trautwig and analyst Alan Hahn from the Geico MSG Studios.

“It’s always good to be back at The Garden,” said Ewing. “The Garden is home, New York is home, and the fans always appreciated what I brought to the table when I played. I’m really looking forward to working with MSG, it will be a great learning experience for me, and I’m excited to be on the other side of the mic.”

“With Patrick Ewing in our studio and Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier in the Arena, we will arguably have two of the greatest Knicks of all-time on our game coverage for these two games,” said Daniel Ronayne, executive vice president and general manager, MSG Networks. “Patrick’s knowledge of the team and New York basketball will give viewers a unique perspective on the results of both games.”

Ticket prices at MSG going up again

The Knicks haven’t won a playoff series since 2001, but the Garden’s $800 million, three-year transformation continues to give owner James Dolan cause to jack up season-ticket prices.

In a press release, the Knicks announced season-ticket prices will go up, on average, 6.4 percent for next season. The ticket increase is related to the final stage of the three-year transformation being completed in time for next season.

Ticket prices for Rangers game will increase by four percent.

— Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post