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.

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.

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ –

When:           Tuesday, December 13, 3 pm ET

Who:             New York Knicks Rookie Iman Shumpert

Where:          www.facebook.com/NYKnicks

What:            Shumpert will chat live for 30 minutes with fans, taking questions and talking one-on-one in front of a live online audience

Details:
With the 2011-12 season about to begin, the New York Knicks are using Silicon Valley technology company TokBox to host an open video chat on the Knicks’ Facebook page. Knicks guard Shumpert will talk live for 30 minutes and speak directly with fans about his excitement for the upcoming season and answer any questions the audience members pose.

TokBox is a San Francisco-based technology company that enables anyone to add live face-to-face experiences to any web property for audiences from one to many thousands.

SOURCE TokBox

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NEW YORK – Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire defiantly stood his ground against NBA commissioner David Stern on Friday, proclaiming the NBA Players Association isn’t “budging” from its 53 percent revenue split offer and openly questioning if the NBA lockout would be resolved Tuesday when owners and players are scheduled to meet with a federal mediator.

Judging by his comments, Stern and the owners are going to have to accept the players’ offer of a 53-47 percent split of basketball-related income for a deal to be reached on that day. And no threat by Stern of additional game cancellations is going to change their position.

“We’ve already dropped from 57 [percent] to 53,” Stoudemire said of the players’ offer to lower their BRI take from the previous collective bargaining agreement. “I think 53 is fair for both sides. Right now we’re not budging. We’re at 53, and that’s where we stand.”

Stoudemire, at the Duane Reade on Wall Street in downtown Manhattan to launch Sheets Energy Strips on Friday, didn’t shy away from the reality facing him and the rest of the NBA.

With the lockout more than 100 days old, the first two weeks of the regular season already canceled and the threat of more cancellations looming, he knows the time to get a deal done and save the season is slipping away.

But Stoudemire didn’t sound overly optimistic that a new collective bargaining agreement would be reached Tuesday – the latest do-or-die date Stern has set for the NBA to cancel more games, including the Knicks’ Christmas Day showdown against the Celtics, if a deal isn’t reached – even though mediator George Cohen would be involved for the first time.

“I just don’t know what’s going to happen with this lockout,” Stoudemire said.

“My gut feeling is it gets resolved, but you never know. We’ve went into a few meetings thinking that [the lockout] was going to be resolved sooner than later, and it didn’t pan out that way. So we have to wait and see.”

While they wait, Stoudemire thinks players who are rehabbing from injuries – like himself – are being hurt by the rules of the lockout.

The NBA prohibits players from communicating with team doctors (or any personnel) during the lockout and Stoudemire thinks that could lead to the recovering players re-injuring themselves when, and if, the season starts.

“You have so many guys who are trying to rehab from injuries and are trying to figure out how to approach their workouts and they have no idea,” Stoudemire said.

“We’re pretty much stuck on our own. Once the season does [start] and guys get hurt within the first few weeks, well hey, you guys [the NBA] wouldn’t let us talk to our physicians, so in the long haul the team loses from that.”

As for the back injury Stoudemire suffered before Game 2 of the Knicks’ first-round playoff series against Boston last April, he said it was healed and he would be ready to play if the season started today. But he did admit his back still gets “tight” after long workouts.

“I’m working out five or six hours a day, sometimes twice a day,” Stoudemire said. “I’m ready to go. My back’s good. It gets a little bit tight after a while. But I’m ready.”

Ready for what, even he doesn’t know.

Updated Aug 29, 2011 2:43 PM ET

NEW YORK (AP)

The New York Knicks hired former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Woodson on Monday as an assistant to Mike D’Antoni.

Though frequently considered a defensive specialist, Woodson made clear during a conference call that he can help D’Antoni in many roles.

”I’m just a coach that’s looking for an opportunity. I have experience and I’m just excited about the opportunity,” Woodson said. ”That’s all a coach in this league can ask for.”

Woodson led the Hawks to three playoff berths in his six seasons in Atlanta, but was let go after they were swept in embarrassing fashion by Orlando in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals.

He interviewed for the Detroit job that instead went to Lawrence Frank and also was a candidate in Houston, but now will try to help D’Antoni address the Knicks’ struggles on the defensive end.

Yet D’Antoni also tried to downplay the notion of a ”defensive specialist.”

”I don’t know where that came from, other than people writing about it,” he said. ”But he’s a good coach.”

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