What do you guys think about this.

The New York Knicks turned in a really ugly performance against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night (Dec. 29). The Knicks would trail early and never get the offense going, finishing with just 10 points in the fourth quarter during a 99-82 loss. It was ugly on all aspects, but especially in how badly the team shot from the field.

The Knicks went just 21-for-67 (31 percent) against the Lakers, but made it even worse by giving up 52 percent on the defensive end (38-for-73). The Lakers also went 9-for-16 from three-point range, hitting pretty much from any place on the floor they wanted to. Kobe Bryant would finish with 28 points, Pau Gasol had 16 and Josh McRoberts had 10. The leading scorer for New York was Carmelo Anthony, who was 8-for-14 and finished with 27 points. The rest of the team went just 13-for-53 from the field, making less than 25 percent during the game.

This turned into the second straight loss for the Knicks after the team lost to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night (Dec. 28). It’s not how the team wanted to play after beating up on the Boston Celtics in the season opener, but luckily every other team in the Atlantic division is also losing games. After three games the Celtics sport a 0-3 record, so in comparison, the 1-2 record for the Knicks isn’t that bad. It’s not a good way to open the season though, even with the excuse that it is because they have to play on the West Coast right out of the gate.

It’s starting to look like the Knicks need big nights from Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and at least one other player every game to post a win. When one of the big two guys is off, the team can’t seem to find a way to recover. This is where role players have to step up and someone like Landry Fields, Bill Walker or Toney Douglas has got to put points up on the board. Without a third or even fourth significant contributor, the Knicks might have trouble stringing wins together.

The next chance for a Knicks win comes on Saturday, Dec. 31 when the team travels to play the Sacramento Kings in the last game of the road trip. Hopefully coach Mike D’Antoni can have a good practice on Friday (Dec. 30) to figure out just how this group of players can start getting more consistent on the court. That consistency will lead to a fluid approach to the game and, of course, more wins. If he can’t find it, this could become another long season with a lot of hopes going unfulfilled.

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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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There is the quick update of the day.

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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*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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What are your opinions.

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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*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.

Thanks for reading! .

On Sunday December 25, 2011, the New York Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics 106-104 at Madison Square Garden. It was a nice Christmas gift for Knicks fans. Here are five thoughts on the game.

Amar’e Stoudemire played well when it counted.
commons.wikimedia.org/Chamber of Fear

Melo Was Marvelous

Carmelo Anthony looks great in a New York uniform, does he not? He looked determined and comfortable. It is pretty clear that he will lead the Knicks in scoring this season. In fact, he may lead the National Basketball Association (NBA) in scoring. Anthony scored 37 points on 10 of 17 from the field. He hit 13 out of 15 free throws. Anthony also had three assists, two steals and a blocked shot. He could be a candidate for Most Valuable Player in the NBA this season.

High Ratings on Christmas Day

This game was the most-watched game on Christmas Day on a cable television network. The game averaged 5.9 million viewers on the TNT channel. The Knicks are back and the NBA will benefit from it. They will be a fun team to watch this season.

Stat

After a shaky preseason, Amar’e Stoudemire shot well when it counted. Stat scored 21 points on eight of 11 shooting. It also looks like Stoudemire has added a new weapon to his arsenal. He went two for two from downtown. Stat and Melo combined for 58 points. It appears that they can play together, at least for one game.

Point Guard Problems

Toney Douglas and Iman Shumpert combined for 30 points and five assists. But Shumpert will now miss two to four weeks with a sprained right knee. With Baron Davis still on the mend, the Knicks will rely more on Mike Bibby. The Knicks also claimed former Harvard guard Jeremy Lin. Lin was impressive in the 2010 Las Vegas Summer League. He played in 29 games as a rookie for Golden State.

Big Man

Tyson Chandler had a quiet seven points and three rebounds. But he defended the lane with six blocks. These Knicks are no longer pushovers inside the paint.

The Knicks are off to a great start. Their next game is on Wednesday December 28, 2011 at the Golden State Warriors.

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Edwin Torres was born in New York City. He has been a Knicks fan since the early 1980s. He has visited Madison Square Garden on many occasions to watch the Knicks and his favorite player, Patrick Ewing. For more articles, follow him on Twitter @FlipPoker.

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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.

Feel free to leave your comments below.

The New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics on opening night, stealing first place in the Atlantic division over an aging team playing without Paul Pierce. The loss left Celtics power forward Kevin Garnett pretty upset, and he went at the throat of Knicks forward Bill Walker. Garnett grabbed Walker by the throat with one hand and pushed him backwards, creating a situation that should have been pretty embarrassing to the league. Apparently the league doesn’t care though.

A source from the NBA leaked information that Garnett would not get punished for this incident, basically sweeping it under the rug. This is an unacceptable decision by the league and it really reeks of favoritism for a player that is likely heading to the Basketball Hall of Fame. What Garnett did was basically assault Walker after the game, something that it would seem that the league would try to stop from happening. If it happened during, a player could get ejected, fined and then suspended for the action.

Walker was the mature one in this situation, approaching Garnett later that afternoon when the Celtics were heading to the team bus to leave. If we believe what Walker has to say, the situation looks closed and is unlikely to re-surface when the teams face off again this season. As for the fan opinion of what took place after that final whistle and just how ridiculous what Garnett did is another debate entirely. For a player that already has a negative reputation for playing dirty, this is not sitting well with Knicks fans that watched the aftermath.

The league needed to make a statement here, if for no other reason than t stay consistent with policy. Players get suspended in the NBA for simply leaving the bench during a game, but assaulting an opponent after the game has ended seems so much worse. Apparently not.

Celtics fans are quick to excuse Garnett’s actions on articles about the game, most likely because they have become used to this behavior. It’s not something that flies off the court, so why should it get considered proper behavior after the game. I am curious about one thing though; where are the NBA fans that were attacking LeBron James for not shaking hands after a loss back in 2010? Is trying to choke someone not worse than skipping a handshake?

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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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There is the quick update of the day.

Carmelo Anthony scored 37 points in the New York Knicks season opening win, 106-104, over the Boston Celtics. The Knicks needed every one of those points to beat the Celtics, and will, I believe, need Carmelo to score like that all season.

Carmelo Anthony
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Carmelo Anthony is Great NBA Scorer

So far in his NBA career, Carmelo Anthony is averaging 24.9 points per game. That is the 13th highest scoring average in NBA history. Twice in his career Melo averaged over 28.0 points per game for a season. In 2007 he averaged 28.9 points per game, and in 2010 he averaged 28.2 points per game.

There’s no doubt that Carmelo Anthony is a great scorer in the NBA. On December 10, 2008, playing for the Denver Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony poured in 33 points in the third quarter of a game vs the Minnesota Tmiberwolves. That is tied with George Gervin for the most points a player has ever scored in an NBA quarter.

I’ve been a Carmelo Anthony fan since he took my favorite college basketball team, the Syracuse Orange, to the NCAA Championship in 2003. I’ve followed Melo’s career since then, and have always believed he would win a scoring title in the NBA.

When Melo averaged 28.9 points per game in 2007, he finished second to Kobe Bryant in scoring, but was not really that close to Kobe’s 31.56 points per game average. Melo has also finished third in scoring a couple of times, including last season when he averaged 25.58 points per game. This season though, I think Carmelo Anthony will win his first NBA scoring title. Here’s why I think so.

Carmelo Anthony Had Teammates Who Could Score with the Denver Nuggets

During the two seasons Carmelo Anthony averaged over 28.0 points per game in Denver, the Nuggets had plenty of offense around him. The 2007 team had Allen Iverson (24.8 points per game average in 2007), who won four NBA scoring titles, on the team, as well as Earl Boykins (15.2), Andre Miller (13.0), J.R. Smith (13.0), Nene (12.2), and Marcus Camby (11.2).

The 2010 Denver Nuggets had Chauncey Billups (19.5), J.R. Smith (15.4), Nene (13.8) and Kenyon Martin (11.5) on the team scoring points. So in both the seasons that Carmelo Anthony had his highest scoring averages so far in the NBA, he had plenty of other players who scored points on the team.

New York Knicks Only Have Amare Stoudemire and Will Need Carmelo Anthony to Score a Lot of Points

The 2011-12 New York Knicks really only have one other legitimate established NBA scorer on the team in Amare Stoudemire. Newly signed center Tyson Chandler has only averaged 8.3 points per game in his NBA career. Looking over the rest of the Knicks roster, there’s really no one else on the team had can be relied upon to score points.

Toney Douglas has a career average of 9.8 points per game, while Landry Fields has averaged 9.7. Mike Bibby has a career scoring average of 15.2 points per game, but he’s averaged just 9.1 and 8.6 points per game over his last two NBA seasons. Baron Davis has scored 16.5 points per game in his career, but he’s not expected to play for the Knicks for at least a month, and Davis only averaged 13.1 points per game in 2011.

The Knicks just do not have many players who they can rely upon to score points in the 2011-12 season. The team is really going to have to lean heavily on Carmelo Anthony to score points this season, just like in the first game victory over the Boston Celtics.

That’s why I believe Carmelo Anthony is very likely to go on and win the NBA scoring title in 2011-12.

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That’s all for today.

CBSSports.com wire reports
Dec. 25, 2011

NEW YORK — Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks know it will never be easy against the Celtics.

Not beating them in one game, and certainly not beating them for a division title.

But pulling out the kind of nail biter that’s long gone Boston’s way in this rivalry only reinforced the Knicks’ belief that they can do it — and even the Celtics see a difference.

Anthony scored 37 points, including a pair of free throws with the game tied and 16 seconds left, and New York survived a seesaw season opener Sunday to edge the Celtics 106-104.

“Most importantly for us, as a new team, we showed something,” Anthony said. “We came together as a team. Even when we got down, there wasn’t no frowns. Nobody was down. Mentally everybody was still up about it, and we willed our way to this win.”

Amar’e Stoudemire added 21 points and Toney Douglas had 19 for the Knicks, who led by 17 in the first half, trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter, then pulled out a thrilling Christmas victory in the delayed opener to the 2011-12 season.

Rajon Rondo had 31 points and 13 assists, nearly leading the Celtics back without an injured Paul Pierce. But Kevin Garnett missed a jumper just before the buzzer, the kind of shot Boston always seems to make against the Knicks.

“They seem to have a little swag and confidence behind them,” Garnett said. “It’s good for the city. It’s good for the Knicks. I’m going to see how consistent they are with that, but for the most part Carmelo played really well.”

Brandon Bass had 20 points and 11 rebounds in his Celtics debut, and Ray Allen added 20 points.

Garnett finished with 15 points. He and Allen had a sleepy Christmas start, with Rondo keeping the Celtics in the game until they got going in the second half.

“I thought we were as soft as you could be in the first quarter and then I thought we joined in to the 2011-12 season, and from that point on I was pretty happy with the way we played,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “I thought we competed well.”

But it wasn’t enough against the Knicks, who withstood a costly knee injury to first-round pick Iman Shumpert to beat the team that swept them out of the first round of last season’s playoffs. Shumpert will miss two to four weeks with a sprained right knee ligament.

Pierce has a bruised right heel but hopes he can return Tuesday when the Celtics visit the Miami Heat.

Even without him, the Celtics fought back to tie it at 69 on Rondo’s layup midway through the third quarter. They surged ahead by eight going into the final period after Bass scored the final six points, then extended it to 89-79 on Bass’ jumper to open the fourth.

Anthony, who scored 20 in the fourth, tied the game at 100 on a 3-pointer with 3:25 to play. It stayed tight until he was fouled on a drive with 16.3 seconds left, making both for a 106-104 lead. Rondo grabbed the rebound of Marquis Daniels’ potential go-ahead 3-pointer to give the Celtics a final chance, but Garnett was off on his jumper, then appeared to shove the Knicks’ Bill Walker away.

Coming off their first winning season in a decade, the Knicks added a defensive presence by signing Tyson Chandler away from the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks and have loftier expectations than they’ve seen in years. The original NBA schedule had them opening against Miami, but instead they got a chance to see if they’ve closed the gap against Boston.

“I think we wanted to come out and set the tone early,” Stoudemire said. “It’s a long year but this game was very important for us to get off to a great start.”

Though the Celtics won all eight meetings last season, the Knicks have been listed some places as the favorites in the Atlantic Division, which the Celtics have ruled since their Big Three came together in 2007.

“Everybody knows how optimism kicks in before the season starts, but then once reality sets in after the first month of the season, we’ll see,” Pierce said before the game. “But it’s definitely a possibility. I mean, they have the talent, but we have the talent too.”

But the Knicks will be without newcomer Baron Davis for a few weeks because of a herniated disc in his back, and now Shumpert is out, leaving little depth in the backcourt.

The Knicks led 49-32 with 7½ minutes left in the first half before the Celtics cut it to 62-52 at halftime.

The first game since renovations began at Madison Square Garden included the usual cast of celebrities such as Alicia Keys, Chris Rock and John McEnroe, and some new confusion, as at least one Celtics player had to ask how to get to the court from the new visitors’ locker room.

Notes

• Rivers said Pierce may come off the bench when he does return, since he’s had only one practice so far.
• The Knicks were without Mike Bibby, who dressed but didn’t play because of a sore back. Reserve Jared Jeffries was lost during the game to a sore right calf.
• Stoudemire provided pregame breakfast to MSG staff in appreciation of the support in his first season with the team.

That’s all for today.

Iman Shumpert could very well become the starting point guard for the New York Knicks soon. Heading into the preseason it seemed like Toney Douglas was the favored player by Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, but then the team signed free agents Mike Bibby and Baron Davis. Davis is out until at least midseason, and Bibby is better coming off the bench at this point. Enter Shumpert , who got selected by the Knicks with the seventeenth pick of the 2011 NBA Draft.

Shumpert averaged 28 minutes per game in the preseason, shooing 34.8 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from three-point range. Those aren’t great numbers, but when Landry Fields, Douglas and Bibby all struggled worse, it opened the door for the rookie to win favor with D’Antoni. Shumpert also averaged 11.5 points, 2.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 2 steals per game in the preseason, showing he could put up some nice numbers if given the minutes.

At practice on Friday (Dec. 23), Shumpert got a lot of time working with the other four starters (Fields, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler). It may seem like an experiment from a coach trying to see what it would look like to go with that lineup, but it also seems like D’Antoni might have something up his sleeves for the regular season. Having a duo of Shumpert (6-5) and Fields (6-7) as the starting guards would give the Knicks a lot of size on both ends of the court. Add Chandler to that equation and suddenly it could become a strength for the Knicks .

Last year, Douglas played in 81 games, averaging 24.3 minutes, 10.6 points, 3 assists and 3 rebounds per game. He was a good option for the Knicks at guard, but he definitely had his limitations as well. One of them was a 41.6 shooting percentage from the field, an area where the team has got to improve in the 2011-12 season. Now, as Douglas tries to improve his game during his third NBA season, it could become a nice battle to see whether it is him or Shumpert that gets to start at point guard.

Shumpert certainly brings a different flow to the game when he is in the lineup and I am very intrigued to see what a starting backcourt of Shumpert and Fields could do against some of the most physical teams in the league. Who knows, maybe D’Antoni will surprise us all and use Shumpert as the starter against the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day.

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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 NBA season is about to begin and the New York Knicks are still not getting any respect around the NBA. ESPN put together a panel of “experts” that selected the Boston Celtics as the projected winners of the Atlantic division this season. Two even picked the Philadelphia 76ers to win the division ahead of both New York and Boston, raising serious questions about how ESPN can call these guys experts.

The voting on ESPN led to 17 people selecting the ancient Celtics, 11 selecting the improved Knicks and 2 selecting the 76ers. The two that picked Philadelphia are A. Kamenetzky of ESPN LA and Keith Lipscomb of ESPN Fantasy. That’s a bold choice to go with a 76ers team that doesn’t seem to have done much to improve for the 2011-12 season and especially bold to place them among the top four seeds coming out of the Eastern Conference. Those Knicks fans already frustrated with those predictions certainly don’t want to hear what John Hollinger had to say .

According to the Hollinger ratings for this year, New York will finish with a 35-31 record and the No. 7 seed in the East. That would put the Knicks behind both Philadelphia and Boston in the Atlantic division, but also behind a No. 6 seeded Indiana Pacers . Finishing behind the Pacers seems like a huge slap in the face to the Knicks , especially because the team gets a full season from Carmelo Anthony and has added Tyson Chandler for the next few years. Finishing No. 7 in the East isn’t going to cut it, especially because Hollinger predicts a first round loss to the Chicago Bulls.

It seems like some great rivalry games are going to take place in the East this year, especially with the Bulls, Celtics and Miami heat. Those are the three teams that New York has to beat in order to make it back to the NBA Finals, so it’s only fitting that the Knicks play the Celtics on the first day of the regular season. Beating the Celtics on Christmas Day could go a long ways toward helping the Knicks set the pace in the Atlantic division and try to accomplish the first division title since before Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett started wearing the Celtic green.

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The New York Knicks are still discussing a contract with James Posey to bring him into the fold. This is an obvious effort to try to boost the depth that the team could have for the coming season, especially with how important it is during the rushed 66-game schedule.

According to ESPN, the Knicks were still talking to Posey on Monday night (Dec. 19), possibly trying to figure out if he will accept a contract at the veteran’s minimum for the coming season. The team still has a “room exception” at $2.5 million that could interest Posey if the team felt that he was worth it. Either way, Posey is available because the Indiana Pacers decided to use the amnesty clause on him and waived him last week. Now he is a free agent that can sign with any other team in the league.

Posey has played with the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, New Orleans Hornets and Indiana Pacers through his long career. Last year with the Pacers, he averaged 17.1 minutes over 49 games played. He had averages of 4.9 points and 3 rebounds, but gave the team an extra player towards the end of the bench. Posey is certainly a player that could help with depth in New York now, but fans shouldn’t get too excited about what he might have to offer.

A good thing that Posey brings to the table is postseason experience, as he has played in 87 playoff games over his career. That is more than most players currently on the Knicks roster, and raises the value of having the 34-year-old on the team. Whether he can actually put up significant minutes is a different discussion, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have him at the end of the bench in case an injury takes place.

It’s bigger news that the team brought in Baron Davis to serve as an addition when he gets back from his injury rehab. That’s a good veteran player to have on the team if he is willing to take on that role of supporting player to the leaders of this team. The roster is starting to look pretty good, even if some of the pieces got brought in as spare parts to the threesome of Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler.

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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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NEW YORK — The New York Knicks have assembled one of the most talented frontcourts in the league and are working on improving their backcourt.

Free-agent point guard Baron Davis will sign a one-year contract Monday with the Knicks for $2.5 million, according to multiple media reports.

Davis, 32, will be sidelined for at least a month because of a problem with his back, but the Knicks felt comfortable in taking a chance on the two-time All-Star.

“I would love to have him,” Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony said Sunday. “Everybody knows what he can do when he’s healthy and when he’s focused. When (Davis) is healthy, he’s one of the best.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers waived Davis last week through the amnesty provision. He has career averages of 16.5 points and 7.3 assists per game.

“There were times he was the best point guard in the league,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I think a lot of it just depends on if he wants to be here and if he’s able to do it. If those things are positives, then he can turn into being a good thing for us.”

New York has Toney Douglas, 25, and Mike Bibby, 33, at point guard.

Miami runs away

from Orlando

MIAMI — LeBron James scored 19 points and the Miami Heat cruised to a 118-85 victory over the Orlando Magic in the exhibition opener for both teams.

The Heat outscored the Magic by 29 points over the game’s final 27 minutes.

“When you have a team outscore you 22-0 on fast-break points, they’re clearly playing at a pace and an energy level higher than what you are,” Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. “And we could not keep up.”

Ryan Anderson and J.J. Redick each scored 22 points for the Magic, which lost for the first time in 22 exhibition games dating to October 2008.

The subject of trade talk throughout training camp, Orlando center Dwight Howard finished with five points on 2-for-9 shooting.

Afterward, Howard said his status is not a distraction for the Magic.

“We were off for seven months,” he said. “And guys are trying to get back into it. There’s no need for us, anybody, Magic fans, whatever, to stress about the first game.”

Van Gundy dismissed a theory Howard was disinterested.

“Here’s where we are: If he has a bad game, he’s disengaged?” Van Gundy said. “That’s BS.”

Notes

• The Indiana Pacers will trade guard Brandon Rush to Golden State for forward Louis Amundson. Mark Bartelstein, the agent for both players, confirmed the deal.

• Ex-Sonic Kevin Durant scored 21 points to lead the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder to a 106-92 victory over the defending champion Dallas Mavericks in the exhibition opener for both teams.

Lamar Odom, acquired from the Los Angeles Lakers in a trade Dec. 11, had 14 points and seven rebounds in his debut for Dallas. Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd, leaders in the Mavericks’ title run, were in uniform and are healthy but were rested by coach Rick Carlisle.

• Greg Stiemsma‘s tip-in with 12 seconds left gave the Boston Celtics a 76-75 exhibition victory over host Toronto.

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In a move that perplexed most NBA analysts and fans, the Knicks used the amnesty clause on point guard Chauncey Billups so that they could sign Tyson Chandler to a $15 M contract. The move meant the Knicks had some holes to address at point guard, and in typical Mike D’Antoni style, defense does not seem to be much a consideration in filling the void.

In addition to already having shoot first point guard Toney Douglas, D’Antoni can now choose to enter either the decrepit Mike Bibby or possibly the 5’11″ Barea, if they do indeed acquire him. The backcourt would be so vulnerable on defense, but that has seldom been a consideration for a coach who has never really put much consideration into that part of the game.

I’m not sure how much basketball Bibby has left in his sneakers, and Barea may be a flash in the pan. During the regular season, Barea averaged just under 10 points per game, and while impressive in the playoffs, he was inconsistent. He had some 20+ point games and then other nights where he barely sniffed the stat sheet. It’s hard to see the value in a guy like Barea when the Knicks aren’t having any trouble scoring anyway, but maybe it is just D’Antoni’s preference to have a guy like Barea whose primary thought when he gets the ball is what kind of shot he can find for himself.

The Knicks probably have made a huge mistake by letting Billups go. I don’t even know how Chandler and Amar’e will work together, but something tells me the Knicks are putting all their eggs in the “get Chris Paul” basket, and are shoving all in, and going with whatever they’re stuck with if they strike out. They realize ultimately that to contend with the likes of Miami, Chicago, and Boston, that they are going to have to get their own super trio, and just having Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony probably isn’t enough.

Even if the Knicks do land Paul, he’s going to have to find a way to get his teammates to tighten up late in games and play some defense. There haven’t been that many run ‘n’ gun teams that have made the Finals, and if you want to go ahead and mention the Lakers’ Showtime teams, I will counter that they actually played very good defense, at a fast pace. Don’t confuse the two. The Knicks need to pick it up defensively if they are going to get anywhere, and adding Barea and Bibby hardly will accomplish that at all.

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New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony and Celtics forward Paul Pierce fight for a loose ball at Madison Square Garden. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

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