It’s time for the New York Knicks to prove that the changes made to the roster were the right moves and that this is a team ready to compete. After a really tough loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night (Dec. 28), it’s time to bounce back and beat a struggling Lakers team. The Knicks play in Staples Center on Thursday (Dec. 29) at 10:30 p.m. ET, making for a long night for dedicated fans back east.

I wrote last night how the Knicks were very flat against the Warriors in the second half, especially after holding a six point lead at halftime. While Tyson Chandler was going through foul trouble, the Knicks just seemed to lack the defensive intensity necessary to beat the better teams in the league. It almost seemed like a number of players on the roster have put too much pressure on Chandler to become the only one putting out the extra effort on defense. It worked in the first game against the Boston Celtics when Chandler blocked 6 shots, but he can’t do it every night by himself.

The Lakers are a much different team without Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum, and that is what the Knicks get on Thursday night (Dec. 29). The Lakers have also lost two of their first three games, losing to the Chicago Bulls and Sacramento Kings before beating the Utah Jazz on Tuesday (Dec. 27). Now the Knicks come to town, and the game goes into primetime for viewers watching on the West Coast. It’s also the second game on the TNT schedule for the night, meaning the game is about to get over-analyzed. Hopefully the Knicks can put up really good numbers and leave a lasting opinion with the broadcasters.

Any success for the Knicks is going to come from shutting down Pau Gasol on defense and working an inside-outside game on offense. Kobe Bryant is going to score his points, but Chandler and Amare Stoudemire have to keep Gasol from catching fire in the low post. On offense, it needs to become a balance between the three-point shooters for the Knicks and the post-up games of Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. The shooting percentage has to get better than the 4-for-21 (19 percent) effort that New York had on Wednesday night (Dec. 28) though.

It’s time to put the excuses aside and for the Knicks to prove that they can get up for a game against one of the elite teams in the Western Conference.

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Sources:

Full Knicks Schedule

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*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a fan of the New York Knicks that has followed the team since the days John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason instilled their defensive will on the rest of the league.

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The New York Knicks really fell apart in the fourth quarter against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night. After holding a 43-37 lead at halftime and then remaining in the game in the third quarter, it was like a lid got put on the basket for the Knicks in the last quarter. The Warriors simply ran away with the game and the Knicks took their first loss of the 2011-12 season.

There are plenty of places to look for blame in this game, beginning with the horrible shooting from the starters and continuing with the poor fourth quarter defense. It also didn’t help that the Golden State big men were dominating the boards and came away with a huge rebounding edge in this one. After beating up on the Boston Celtics in the first game of the year, this was a stark reality check for Knicks fans.

Carmelo Anthony went 3-for-13 from the field for just 13 points and Amare Stoudemire went just 5-for-14 from the field for 16 points. With the tandem going 8-for-27 combined, there just wasn’t room for error when it came to the defensive end. On that end of the court, the Warriors shot 45.5 percent, going 35-for-77 from the field and 6-for-16 from three-point range. The Knicks went 28-for-70 for a 40 percent clip, but also went just 4-for-21 from three-point range for a 19 percent mark.

The 92-78 final was rough to take, especially with the Knicks getting out-scored 28-14 in the final quarter. The rebounding edge was 47-31 in favor of the Warriors and 11-4 on the offensive glass alone. The Warriors also registered 12 steals on the night, with 3 coming from Kwame Brown and 2 from Brandon Rush off the bench.

At times it seemed like New York wasn’t taking the Warriors seriously in the first half and that may have been a reason why the lead disappeared so quickly after Warriors coach Marc Jackson got on his players. They tightened up on defense and completely shut down the Knicks in that fourth quarter.

There isn’t much time to dwell on this game, because the Knicks have to take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night (Dec. 29). It’s a good game to rebound in after losing to the Warriors, but hopefully the Knicks aren’t too down from blowing this one. What makes it all so much worse was that the Warriors didn’t even have their best player on the court Wednesday night (Stephen Curry).

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Sources:

Full Knicks Schedule

New York Knicks Website

*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a fan of the New York Knicks that has followed the team since the days John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason instilled their defensive will on the rest of the league.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

By Jared Smith

– College Sports Writer

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Dec 28, 2011 – After earning a dramatic season-opening victory over the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day the New York Knicks begin a three-game, West Coast road trip Wednesday, as the Knicks visit the Golden State Warriors (1-1) and the ORACLE Arena (10:30 p.m. ET on MSG). After the contest, the Knicks (1-0) will then play at the Los Angeles Lakers, Thursday (10:30 p.m. on TNT), and at the Sacramento Kings, Saturday (8 p.m. on MSG).

On Wednesday, New York will search for its second consecutive victory to start the season, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished by the franchise since 1999. The game will be a reunion with former Knick Mark Jackson, who’s now the Warriors head coach, and could be the debut of newly-acquired guard Jeremy Lin, who was claimed off waivers Monday and will return to the Bay Area where he played last season.

On Thursday, the Knicks will travel to Staples Center to play the Lakers (1-2), who will be playing their fourth game in five days. On Tuesday, behind 26 points from Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles earned a 96-71 victory over the Utah Jazz and snapped a two-game losing streak.

The West Coast swing ends Saturday, when New York visits the always rowdy Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento, CA. The Kings (1-1) will be coming off a Thursday match up with the visiting Chicago Bulls. As of Wednesday, guard Marcus Thorton is the squad’s leading scoring with 20.5 points per game.

Here’s the New York Knicks’ upcoming schedule:

For more on the New York Knicks visit the SB Nation blog Posting And Toasting.

Read More: Kobe Bryant (G – LAL), New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks at Golden State Warriors, Dec 28, 2011 10:30 PM EST

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Read More: Jeremy Lin (G – NYK), Iman Shumpert (G – NYK), New York Knicks, Golden State Warriors

It didn’t take long for the New York Knicks to address their pressing need for a guard, as Tuesday New York claimed Jeremy Lin off waivers. Lin, who had recently been released by the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, respectively, will try and fill the void of backup shooting guard Iman Shumpert, who suffered a sprained MCL during New York’s 106-104 victory over the Boston Celtics is expected to miss 2-4 weeks.

The Knicks (1-0) are also waiting for the return of veteran guards Mike Bibby and Baron Davis, who each missed the season-opener with back injuries. Davis is expected to miss a large portion of the shortened 66-game regular season.

Last season, the Harvard graduate, Lin, played in 29 games, averaged 9.8 minutes and just 2.6 points in his first NBA season with the Warriors.

For more Knicks coverage, visit our team page or our blog Posting and Toasting.

When does a victory seem like a loss? It’s when you’re opening a lockout shortened season at Madison Square Garden against a team you need to overcome on your way up the NBA ladder.

Mike D’Antoni
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Yes, that’s right, it doesn’t take long to begin scrutinizing daily the benefits and disadvantages, the ups and downs, the good and bad of New York Knick basketball. There’s no analyzing like overanalyzing. Simple analysis just doesn’t seem adequate.

Anyway, the Knicks of this year appeared very much like the Knicks of last year…occasional glimpses of an active defense but very little else, and an offense that shuts down completely when Carmelo Anthony takes a seat.

Some observations?

There were periods in this game, when the Knicks transitioned from 12 ahead to eight behind, that Celtics were running free as if they had a communicable disease. There was not a Knick to be found, sometimes not even in the TV frame. There were times when there was no point for a Knick to scurry back to the open man since that would have taken too long given the distance. Simply put, it was some of the worst defense I’d ever seen by a professional team.

And speaking of defense, Tyson Chandler, the $15 million 7″1′ center, collected three rebounds …and that’s not a misprint. At 7″1′, shouldn’t you come by a rebound or two by accident? My goodness! While his line did feature six blocks, his three rebounds were matched by an equally dismal seven points. He wasn’t exactly a deterrent for the Celtics, who managed to shake free for open shot after open shot and 104 points without their best player, Paul Pierce.

Point guard defense might be an issue this year. Rajon Rondo vaporized the Knicks with 31 points and 13 assists. Iman Shumpert looks like an active player but, of course, he’s injured now and will be out a month.

Most observers thought the Celtics were ready to be taken this year. Not so fast, they communicated very clearly in Game #1.

Glenn Vallach has been a New York Knick fan since the days of Howie Komives and Walt Bellamy, when he regularly boarded the IRT Subway at 180th Street in the Bronx for a trip to the Garden to see his heroes. Since the last championship in 1973, he has alternately yearned and suffered, hoped and lamented…and has waited long enough.

Source:

• · Yahoo Sports NBA page
• · Yahoo Sports New York Knicks Team page
• · Yahoo Sports Boston Celtics page
• · Yahoo Sports Carmelo Anthony page
• · Brian Mahoney, AP Basketball Writer, Knicks edge Celtics 106-104 on Anthony foul shots

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