New York Knicks Blog – Page 81 – NBA Blog

Jeremy Lin, Rockets beat Knicks in New York

His old fans booed him. His old friend clobbered him.

Otherwise, it was Linsanity all over again at Madison Square Garden.

Jeremy Lin had 22 points and eight assists in his return to New York, leading the Houston Rockets to a 109-96 victory Monday night that ended the Knicks’ 10-game home winning streak to open the season.

Cheered then jeered, and later floored by Tyson Chandler’s flagrant foul, Lin added another masterpiece to the ones he put together last season during the height of his memorable run. No longer the fan favorite he was when wearing the home uniform, Lin got a mixed reception when he left the game with 2:25 remaining and the Rockets leading by 16.

”It was a lot of fun playing out there and I think our team, we took a step in the right direction,” Lin said. ”And for me, it was great to be back and it was a lot of fun to play on that court again.”

James Harden had 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who blew out the Knicks for the second time this season. They have won the last seven meetings, including a 131-103 rout in Houston on Nov. 23.

Rookie Chris Copeland scored a career-high 29 points for the Knicks, who played without leading scorer Carmelo Anthony and had their four-game winning streak snapped. They fell to 18-6, matching the record they finished last season with under Mike Woodson…

Felton scored 14 points but shot 7 of 18. Kidd was 2 for 9, and both committed three turnovers.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Knicks edge Cavs despite 41 points from mask-wearing Kyrie Irving

Once they outlasted Kyrie Irving, the New York Knicks could turn their attention to the next point guard coming to Madison Square Garden.

Even Linsanity shouldn’t be as tough to deal with as the guy wearing the black mask Saturday night.

Raymond Felton scored 25 points, Tyson Chandler had 23, and the New York Knicks overcame Irving’s career-high 41 points and the absence of Carmelo Anthony to post a 103-102 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Knicks won their fourth straight when Anderson Varejao missed the second of two free throws with 1 second left. They improved the NBA’s only unbeaten home record to 10-0, their best start since the 1991-92 team won its first 11 at Madison Square Garden.

”Guys stepped up. Raymond played great, Tyson played great, and it was just enough,” Knicks forward Steve Novak said.

Anthony, the NBA’s No. 2 scorer, missed the game after spraining his left ankle Thursday in the third quarter of a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. But Chandler scored 21 in the second half and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Felton and Jason Kidd combined for 15 assists.

It almost wasn’t enough thanks to Irving, who had no problems wearing a black protective mask after breaking a bone in his face on a hard fall Friday night against Milwaukee…

Rookie Chris Copeland scored 11 in his first career start in place of Anthony, who had 30 points in 22 minutes before getting hurt when he landed awkwardly after a hard foul by Dwight Howard. The Knicks improved to 2-1 without him, adding this to a surprising rout in Miami on Dec. 6.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Shawne Williams arrested in Raleigh on drug charges

Former Memphis Tigers basketball star and NBA player Shawne Williams was arrested Thursday in Raleigh after police reported finding marijuana and codeine cough syrup in his car.

An officer was on routine patrol outside a Cricket wireless store in the 3400 block of Austin Peay near the Raleigh Springs Mall. The officer approached Williams in his nearby Porsche Panamera after smelling marijuana, according to a police affidavit, and the 26-year-old Williams was asked to exit his vehicle.

Williams then said, “Officer I ain’t gonna lie to you, there’s a blunt in the car and some syrup,” according to the affidavit.

Police reported finding inside the car a partially smoked marijuana blunt, another blunt that had not been smoked, and a bottle containing 83 grams of codeine cough syrup, for which Williams did not have a prescription.

— Reported by Scott Carroll of the Memphis Commercial Appeal

Melo scores 30, Knicks beat slumping Lakers

Carmelo Anthony scored 22 of his 30 points in the first quarter, and the New York Knicks held on after he departed with a sprained left ankle to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-107 on Thursday night in coach Mike D’Antoni’s return to Madison Square Garden.

Firing in 3-pointers and moving the ball to open shooters, things they often struggled to do under D’Antoni, the Knicks won for the eighth time in nine games and improved to 9-0 at home for the first time since the 1992-93 season.

Meanwhile, things are starting as poorly for D’Antoni in Los Angeles as they ended in New York. The Lakers, still without Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, were never really in the game while losing their fourth straight and falling to 9-14.

Raymond Felton scored 19 points, and Tyson Chandler and J.R. Smith added 18 apiece for the Knicks.

Kobe Bryant had 31 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers. Metta World Peace finished with 23 points and Dwight Howard had 20.

The Lakers did cut what was a 26-point deficit to 113-107 when World Peace converted a three-point play with 1:27 remaining, but the Knicks took more than a minute off the clock while twice grabbing offensive rebounds on the next possession before Chandler made a free throw with 18 seconds to play…

D’Antoni was loudly booed during pregame introductions, Knicks fans who appreciated the rugged defensive teams of the 1990s never truly embracing his offense-first style. D’Antoni said he enjoyed his time in New York and said earlier Thursday the Knicks, who lead the NBA in 3-pointers per game and fewest turnovers, were playing the way he’d like his team to play.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Melo scores 45, Knicks beat Nets in Brooklyn

Now, this Knicks-Nets rivalry is really on.

If it hadn’t started when the Nets left New Jersey and set up shop in the Knicks’ city, it surely arrived when Jason Kidd delivered the tiebreaking 3-pointer Tuesday night, making himself an enemy of his former franchise.

”I hate him,” Nets guard Deron Williams said.

Williams was kidding, the point guards are friends. But Nets fans who watched Kidd ask out of the organization and Carmelo Anthony refuse to come could easily work up more dislike of the Knicks after watching those two Tuesday.

Anthony scored a season-high 45 points, Kidd made the tiebreaking shot with 24 seconds left, and the Knicks rallied from an early 17-point hole to beat Brooklyn 100-97.

Kidd finished with 18 points against his former team, who used to dominate the Knicks when he played in New Jersey. He pumped his fist afterward in what he said was as much emotion as he shows, though denied taking any special pleasure in beating the Nets…

Andray Blatche scored 23 points in place of Brook Lopez, who missed his sixth straight game with a sprained right foot. Williams added 18 points and 10 assists, and Reggie Evans grabbed 18 rebounds, but the Nets lost their fifth straight.

Gerald Wallace scored 17 points, but both he and Williams missed potential tying 3-pointers on the last possession after Kidd broke a 97-all tie with his 3-pointer from the left side while being fouled by Jerry Stackhouse.

Kidd missed the free throw in an otherwise terrific effort for the 39-year-old point guard who helped carry the Knicks while fellow point guard Raymond Felton was struggling through a 3-for-12 night. Kidd had six rebounds and six assists, playing 38 minutes.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Brook Lopez remains out for Nets tonight

Nets center Brook Lopez missed a sixth straight game because of a sprained right foot, sitting out Tuesday night against the New York Knicks.

The Nets hoped Lopez would be able to return, listing him Monday as a game-time decision, but coach Avery Johnson said everyone involved decided earlier Tuesday that Lopez was not ready.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Melo returns with 34, Knicks beat Nuggets

Carmelo Anthony insists there is no grudge against the Denver Nuggets. He just didn’t want his old team – or anyone else – walking into his current home and leaving with a victory.

Anthony returned from a two-game absence with 34 points against his former team, and the New York Knicks beat the Nuggets 112-106 on Sunday night to remain the NBA’s lone unbeaten team at home.

Back in the starting lineup after missing two games with a cut on the middle finger of his left hand that required stitches, Anthony twice made baskets in the final 2:08 after Denver had pulled within four points…

Jason Kidd scored 17 points for the Knicks, who bounced back from their worst offensive performance of the season a night earlier in Chicago and improved to 8-0 at Madison Square Garden. Tyson Chandler and J.R. Smith each had 15 points.

It’s the Knicks’ best start at home since beginning 9-0 in 1992-93.

Ty Lawson had 23 points and Danilo Gallinari had 21 points and nine rebounds against the team that drafted him and later dealt him in the package for Anthony in February 2011…

Knicks F Rasheed Wallace missed the game with a sore left foot. … Corey Brewer finished with 15 points after scoring 19 or more in three straight games, tying a career best.

— Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Bulls end Knicks 5-game winning streak

Leave it to Tom Thibodeau’s vaunted defense to crash the Knicks’ 3-point party.

Marco Belinelli and Luol Deng scored 22 points apiece as the Chicago Bulls beat the Knicks 93-85 on Saturday night, snapping New York’s five-game winning streak.

Belinelli matched a career high by playing 45 minutes and sparked the Bulls at the outset with 15 points in the first quarter. Deng led the way at the end, getting 10 points in the fourth…

Raymond Felton led the Knicks with 27 points, matching his season high set on Thursday in a victory at Miami. However, Felton was just 9 for 30 from the field, exceeding his career high for field-goal attempts by six shots…

Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 18 rebounds for the Knicks, who shot a season-low 32.1 percent from the floor and matched a season high with 15 turnovers. It was also a season-low point total for New York (14-5)…

Carlos Boozer had 12 points and 10 rebounds for Chicago. One night after putting up career highs of 30 points and 23 rebounds in a win at Detroit, Noah just missed an odd triple-double, getting 10 points and 11 rebounds and committing a career-worst nine turnovers.

The Knicks again played without leading scorer Carmelo Anthony, who missed his second straight game because of stitches in the middle finger of his left hand. Anthony, who is third in the NBA with 26.4 points per game, was hurt in a win over Charlotte on Wednesday.

Former Knicks guard Nate Robinson had 14 points, six rebounds and eight assists off the bench for Chicago, which has won five of its last six and 18 of its last 21 at home against New York.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Knicks earning some respect from Heat

The game lost some of its luster when Carmelo Anthony had to back out with a finger injury, but the Knicks definitely had the Miami Heat’s attention heading into Thursday night’s meeting.

The defending champs gave the Knicks, who haven’t won a playoff series since 2000, the ultimate respect, and it wasn’t because they beat Miami by 20 on opening night. The Heat’s star players, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, sounded as if they expect the Knicks to challenge them all season.

“In the Eastern Conference, you would have to look up and say they’re the measuring stick right now, and they would say the same about us,” Wade said at the morning shootaround.

Of course, the Heat thought Anthony was playing when those nice things were said. He sat out with a left middle finger laceration suffered in Wednesday’s win in Charlotte…

James didn’t want to give the Knicks much credit before they met in November, but he acknowledged that they’ve become tougher, smarter and harder to defend.

“They’re a more experienced team,” James said. “They’re more dangerous. They added a key piece in Jason Kidd. His basketball IQ is pretty much one of the highest that we have in this league. It kind of trickles down to everyone else.”

— Reported by Al Iannazzone of New York Newsday

Or, as LeBron James put it after putting himself through a postgame workout — as if he, with 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists was the problem — “They kicked our ass. They have pretty much dominated us in two games.”

That’s the reality, and Thursday the Knicks did so without Carmelo Anthony, hitting 18-of-44 shots from behind the arc.

“We’ve got work to do,” James said. “We can’t act like, OK, let’s just sweep this under the rug. We’ve got a lot of work to do. New York is a real team, they’ve got

some real good players, and we understand that.”

Why did James work up a postgame sweat in the weight room?

“I’ve got to be better,” James said. “I’ve got to be better. It’s that simple. I’m here, and I’m the last one to leave.”

— Reported by Ethan J. Snolnick of the Palm Beach Post

Victor Cruz critiques JR Smith`s salsa moves

Victor Cruz critiques JR Smith salsa moves

Victor Cruz has some pointers on how to salsa for his good friend J.R. Smith, who did Cruz’s patented dance after hitting a game-winning shot at the buzzer to beat Charlotte on Wednesday.

“We got to go to the drawing board a little bit, it was a little stiff at the end,” Cruz joked. “We’ll get that squared away.”

Cruz and Smith grew up in New Jersey and even played AAU ball together when they were teenagers. After practice Wednesday, Cruz tuned in to watch Smith and the Knicks take on the Bobcats. With the game tied at 98-98, Smith hit a fadeaway buzzer-beater to give the Knicks the 100-98 win. Smith scored 13 points on 6-of-16 shooting Wednesday, including 1-of-9 from 3.

— Reported by Matt Ehalt of ESPN New York