Four decisive victories this week brought the Knicks' winning streak to eight games, more than making up for their stumble on the west coast two weeks ago, bringing their record to 46-26 and giving them a four and a half game lead over the Nets in the Atlantic Division and a virtual tie with the Pacers for the two seed in the East.
Although the Knicks haven't been playing the stiffest competition, wins are wins, especially this time of year. That's certainly true when it comes to victories over the Celtics in Boston (100-85) and the Grizzlies (108-101), Bobcats (111-102) and the Celtics again (108-89) at the Garden.
What Went Right This Week: Pretty much everything. The Knicks were on fire all week. Seriously, just ask the Celtics.
The Knicks took control of their game in Boston with a stellar first half where they turned the ball over just twice. They played stretches without Kenyon Martin and used some funky lineups when Boston went small, at one point playing Melo at center with Felton, Prigioni, Shumpert and JR. That's a small forward, two shooting guards and two point guards. Mike D'Antoni, eat your heart out.
Against Memphis, the Knicks held a thirty point lead in the third quarter that they almost managed to give away. The first six minutes of the game were all Iman Shumpert, as he started the game 5-5 from the field, including three makes from three. Shumpert's improved tremendously from week to week, is shooting the ball well and his activity level has been a real boon to the Knick defense, which was strong all week. The Grizzlies, one of the league's toughest teams, didn't quit down thirty: they chipped away at the Knicks' lead and cut it to five with just over ninety seconds left. A big three pointer by Jason Kidd gave the Knicks some breathing room and they held on for the victory.
Charlotte, the worst team in the NBA by any metric, was kind enough to lay down for the Knicks, even if they did make a bit of a push in the fourth quarter. The Knicks were up eighteen at the end of the first quarter and didn't have to look back in what was one of their easiest games of the season.
On Sunday night the Knicks went to work against the Celtics, shooting 11-16 from three in the first half on their way to a seventeen point halftime lead. Boston cut it to eleven during the fourth quarter but the victory was never in doubt. The win had a little extra significance as it gave the Knicks a 3-1 regular season series advantage over the Celtics and signified a passing of the torch in the Atlantic Division. The Knicks hadn't won a season series against the Celtics since 2003-04 and Boston, having won the Atlantic every year since KG and Ray Allen got to town in 2007-08, is now nine games behind the Knicks.
Quite a few Knicks deserve individual accolades. JR Smith, who we'll get to later on, was dominant, becoming the first player to score thirty points off the bench in three straight games since Ricky Pierce in 1990 (check out Pierce going for 38 against Jordan). Although he didn't shoot the ball particularly well, Melo was productive, scoring 26.8 points a game. Significantly, the Knicks played well enough in Boston Sunday to limit him to just 27 minutes and get him some rest before taking on the Heat tonight. Lucky for the Knicks (arguably), it appears that LeBron, Wade and Mario Chalmers will be sitting out tonight's game.
Kenyon Martin continued his stellar defensive play in the absence of Tyson Chandler, Raymond Felton had some strong games and Jason Kidd kept doing Jason Kidd things. The blowouts allowed Chris Copeland to get some burn and he contributed as well, scoring 22 points against Boston Sunday.
The unsung hero of the Knicks' winning streak, however, is Pablo Prigioni. Prigioni started his first game for the Knicks on March 18th in Utah and the Knicks haven't lost since. Prigioni isn't a stats guy, he's a grinder who does the little things. His backcourt harassment, fast break killing transition fouling and unquenchable desire to make the extra pass has gotten the Knicks off to some fast starts and made Jason Kidd much more useful in his role off the bench. What's the word for bravo in Spanish?
What Went Wrong This Week: Not a whole lot. It's important to acknowledge that this week's victories came against a struggling Celtics team playing without Kevin Garnett (and Rondo, of course, who's been out for months), the league's worst team and a Memphis squad dealing with some injuries (Marc Gasol's got a strained ab and was ineffective) and chemistry issues (old friend Zach Randolph didn't play the entire fourth quarter and looked less than happy about it).
It's worrisome that Tyson Chandler still hasn't gotten back on the court (he last played on March 14 against Denver). Only in Knick-land can a guy leave a game with a knee injury and then not play for two and a half weeks due to a problem with his neck. Chandler may play tonight against Miami. If he doesn't, Kenyon Martin will be needed to step into his role in the starting lineup. That is if his strained abdominal muscle doesn't keep him out of the game too. He's currently listed as questionable for tonight. Martin's been fantastic since signing with the Knicks and losing him for any amount of time would be a problem.
Injuries at center again lead back to the use (or lack thereof) of Marcus Camby. Blowout wins this week provided an opportunity to get Camby on the court and the Knicks weren't able to take advantage. Boston played both games with extremely small lineups, so finding minutes for him in those games was no doubt difficult. And he got into the Grizzlies game only to get himself ejected after less than eight minutes on the court (nice move for a veteran). Still, I would have liked to have seen him get a few more minutes against Charlotte (he played just over four).
Knick of the Week: Since this award was created, no player has won it as decisively as JR Smith did this week. Smith averaged 29.8 points on 54% shooting and seven rebounds a game. He continued to use the extra step he can almost always get on his defender to get to the rim rather than create space for his jump shot. He was rewarded with forty free throws for his efforts and he made 35 of them. If Smith keeps playing like this, he's going to earn himself both the Sixth Man of the Year award and a big fat contract in the offseason and he may have done both already (he's no doubt the most underpaid player in the league at $2.8 million this season). The highlights from any of Smith's games this week tell the story of how he's been playing, but the ones against the Grizzlies' tough perimeter defenders may do the best job.
Laughs All Around? It was actually a very quiet week for Knicks-related humor, save one thing. The Knicks had Walt Frazier bobblehead night on Friday. The bobblehead and Clyde even wore the same suit, a beautiful "Only Clyde" cow print number. Yes, cow print. Because leopard print is so last year.
This was also hilarious, although it has nothing to do with the Knicks.
Up Next: With their magic number to win the Atlantic down to just six games, the Knicks head to Miami to face the Heat tonight and play the Hawks in Atlanta Wednesday. After that, they're home for one game against Milwaukee Friday and in Oklahoma City for a nationally televised game Sunday afternoon. That's four games against playoff teams, two on the road against championship contenders. Another tough week for the Knicks. That's why the eight game winning streak they just finished, regardless of the competition, is so important. Wins against the Hawks, Bucks and LeBron-less Heat and a strong showing on the road against the Thunder would make this week a success.
You can follow Jonathan Fishner on Twitter @therealkingfish, and check out his blog The Real King Fish.
