So the NBA Season is underway, and the Knicks’ first week is over. They finished with a win and 2 losses, but we fans should be coming away from that week with optimism and hope, as both the losses came down to the last play and overall were very competitive.
Game 1 : New York Knicks 126 – Atlanta Hawks 107.
You couldn’t have asked for a better first game of the year. The Knicks looked like a playoff team in the way we dismantled the Hawks. Except for those first few minutes where the Hawks got a 10-0 lead, the game was all New York. Pretty much everyone looked great (barring Knox who seemed to not find his feet and rhythm). Both Kanter and Vonleh look great as the both of them posted Double Doubles. Frank got a lot of minutes and looked real good. Hardaway was on that night and dropped 31 points. The Knicks also set a franchise record 49 points in the second quarter. (most points scored in the second quarter in franchise history, not any quarter)
Game 2 : Brooklyn Nets 107 – New York Knicks 105.
After the high of game 1, the Knicks went to the Barclays Centre with a lot of hope and came up just short. This one was tightly contested all the way through with no team really holding dominance. After not looking too great in the first game, Knox turned it around and produced a stellar performance dropping 17 points in 28 mins, he shot 75% from the 3 point line including a clutch 3 to tie the game at 93 in the fourth quarter. Though Fiz has looked really good with his managing and the tempo and pace of play he has set his Knicks to play with, one should question his decision to guard LaVert with THJ on that final play instead of Frank.
Game 3 : New York Knicks 101 – Boston Celtics 103.
Ah, this one stung a lot with it being against the Celtics and how it ended with those free throws. However on the positive side, we came close yet again and nearly beat what is probably the best team in the East. Celtics were largely on top here, jumping up to big leads (as big as 16) however the Knicks kept having good runs and making it even. Timmy dropped 20+ yet again, but I felt his shot selection was quite poor and he shot only 38.1% on FGs. Missing free throws was a big problem of the night for the Knicks and that was capped off by Burke. As a team the Knicks shot 17 of 27 from the line (63%) whereas Boston converted 28 of 33 (84.8%). Overall disappointing loss for the Knicks having come so close.
Overview
Best Player of the Week: Enes Kanter – dropped 3 back to back double doubles and became the first Knick to do so in the first 3 games of the season since 2014.
Worst Player of the Week: Mario Hezonja – some may disagree with this but I didnt really like what i saw from Hezonja this week. Terrible on defense, put up a total of 4 combined points in the Brooklyn and Boston games.
Mixed emotions after the first week, but tbh generally positive. We looked good, showed a lot of energy and in the end of the day as much as we all hate losing this is going to help the tank and us getting a nice pick for the draft. Tough week up next for the Knicks with back to back games on the road in Milwaukee and Miami before returning home to face the defending champs, the Warriors.
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