And so it begins: The championship dream. Thanks to a 15-1 win-loss spurt over the last month, the Knicks did accomplish the second goal for this season early: after winning the Atlantic Division before, the Knicks did lock up the second place in the Eastern Conference against the Conference's third best team, the Indiana Pacers, with two regular season games still to go. Now there is only one goal for this season left: the title!
Close your eyes. It's about this now:
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If yesterdays game was an indicator, we could be in for a deep Knicks playoff run starting next Saturday. Still without five bigmen the Knicks withstand a physical Pacers team and could even afford to sit Carmelo Anthony the whole fourth quarter with a left shoulder contusion, because the defensive intensity was high for most of the afternoon forcing a game deciding 26 turnovers and they simply seem to have more firepower than Indiana.
Summary:
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- Once again the Knicks had a good start (how a month can change things) and played most of the game with the lead.
- Chris Copeland was huge for an undermanned team, providing 20 big points, for example these two:
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- Solid defense throughout allowing just 15, 25, 20 and 20 points in the four quarters.
- Timely double teams, active hands (the reason for the 26 Pacers turnovers)
- Melo setting the tone early
- Melo getting hit hard by West meaning another little injury to be worried about.
- Getting outrebounded 45-32.
- Not much suspense.
Close your eyes another time and don't take the words too literally. Just listen and sing with me: I have a dream.
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Next is Boston on Saturday or Sunday in the first of - wait a second! There are still two games left and the Knicks finally did inject some suspense by releasing Solomon Jones earlier today, so the question against the Bobcats today becomes: who does suit up? STAT? Out. Chandler? Out. Martin? Out. Anthony? Out. 15th man? Out. Camby? We don't know. Wallace? Maybe. That means: no rest for Felton, Smith, Prigioni, Kidd, Shumpert, White, Copeland and Novak.
