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.

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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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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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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
Wikimedia Commons

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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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.

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.

More From YCN :

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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.