Bobcats-Knicks Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Jan 04 2012 12:04AM

Despite the presence of one of the league's top scorers in Carmelo Anthony, the New York Knicks have struggled offensively for the majority of the young season.

The return of Amare Stoudemire may help.

Stoudemire expects to be in the lineup Wednesday night when New York seeks to beat the Charlotte Bobcats at Madison Square Garden for the fourth straight time.

Anthony is averaging 27.0 points per game for the Knicks (2-3) after a 35-point performance in Monday's 90-85 home defeat to Toronto. New York has scored 85 points or fewer in all three of its losses, and its 40.2 percent team field-goal percentage ranks near the bottom of the league.

Stoudemire has missed the last two games with a sprained left ankle, but said he's excited to return to the court Wednesday. He'd averaged 17.3 points through the first three games.

"I can't wait," Stoudemire said. "It was tough watching (Monday), so I can't wait to get back out there to really give us that push that we need."

New York may also get a boost from the potentially surprising return of first-round draft pick Iman Shumpert, who coach Mike D'Antoni said will be a game-time decision.

Shumpert injured his knee in a collision during the Knicks' season-opening win over Boston on Christmas Day and originally was expected to miss up to four weeks.

"I know we lost a game we should have won (Monday)," D'Antoni said. "But again, we've just got to hang in there, get through this period, get guys healthy, and then see what holes we have and see what we have to add to fix them."

Anthony is averaging 29.4 points in his last 11 games against Charlotte, which has lost four straight since a Dec. 26 season-opening win over Milwaukee.

The Bobcats (1-4) fell 115-101 at Cleveland on Tuesday despite 26 points from D.J. Augustin. Following a 96-95 loss to Miami on Dec. 28, Charlotte's last three defeats have come by an average of 24.7 points.

"It's just not gonna work if we don't play hard all the time," coach Paul Silas said. "We're not talented enough to not play hard all the time. You can't just give (the game) away and let it happen."

Traveling to New York won't make things any easier if recent history is any indication. The Bobcats have lost three straight at Madison Square Garden, where they are 3-9 all-time. However, the last five of those defeats at MSG have come by four points or fewer.

The Bobcats nearly overcame a 16-point deficit the last time they visited New York on Nov. 23, 2010, but came up short by a 110-107 score. Augustin scored 24 points in the loss.

Charlotte defeated the Knicks 114-106 at home March 26 despite a 36-point effort from Anthony.

Diaw, Bobcats bounce back, beat Knicks 118-110

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Posted Jan 04 2012 11:52PM

NEW YORK (AP) Sure, Boris Diaw was lousy the night before, Charlotte coach Paul Silas conceded.

Nothing to worry about, Silas figured, because he remembered Diaw usually plays well against the New York Knicks.

Sure enough, Diaw rebounded with a season-high 27 points, and the Bobcats snapped a four-game losing streak with a 118-110 victory Wednesday.

Diaw had some of his best moments playing for Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni in Phoenix, and he's just as good against D'Antoni's system as he was in it.

"Some games I'm going to score a lot of points and some not, and usually it doesn't depend on what we do but what the opposite team is doing, and I always try to adapt to whatever the defense is giving me," Diaw said. "And against this kind of team, yeah, I like these kind of games."

Gerald Henderson added 24 for the Bobcats, who won for the first time since their opener. Reserve Byron Mullens scored 16 and D.J. Augustin finished with 14 points and 10 assists. Charlotte shot 55 percent from the field.

The Bobcats ruined the return of Amare Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert, who helped get the Knicks' offense back on track but saw that effort wasted when they simply couldn't guard Charlotte.

"Offense was good ... just bad defense," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Rotations weren't there. Give them a lot of credit, they played well, but at the same time we just played in spurts on defense. We just have to do a better job."

Stoudemire had 25 points and 12 rebounds after missing two games with a sprained left ankle. Shumpert scored 18 points off the bench after beating a two-to-four week timetable after spraining a right knee ligament in the Christmas opener.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 32, but 22 came in the fourth quarter when all he could do was make the score more respectable.

"We played well offensively. Defensively a few letdowns," Stoudemire said. "They got off to a great start and they got hot there in the fourth quarter also."

Diaw was in quick foul trouble and was scoreless in 18 minutes of Charlotte's 115-101 loss in Cleveland on Tuesday. Silas said before the game that Diaw "didn't do well last night," but didn't even address the poor performance with the Frenchman.

"I didn't say a word and I knew that he was going to come with it tonight because we've gone through that before and the next game he's played very well," Silas said.

And Diaw did, repeatedly finding ways to beat whichever member of the Knicks' much-hyped frontcourt guarded him and falling four points shy of his career high.

The Knicks blew another game they were expected to win following their loss to Toronto on Monday, and fans are showing signs of souring on a team with lofty expectations. Only Shumpert seemed safe from the boos, and even D'Antoni had a rare show of anger, swinging his arm in frustration after calling timeout following a basket by Diaw in the final minutes - as Shumpert limped off the floor with a cramp.

"That one, that hurt," Anthony said. "Just the way we've been playing the last couple of games, I mean it hurt to lose games like that. Hard to dig ourselves out of a hole like that and try to fight back every time. It takes a toll on everybody. The good thing is it's over with now. Got practice tomorrow, look at some film, talk it out, figure it out and move on."

Shumpert sparked the Knicks on both ends, and Knicks fans booed when D'Antoni replaced him with Toney Douglas early in the fourth quarter. Kemba Walker soon followed with five straight as Charlotte took a 95-80 lead, and it grew to 100-84 on a 3-pointer by Diaw with 7:47 remaining.

Walker had seven points in his first game in his hometown since leading Connecticut to last season's Big East championship.

Walker has played at Madison Square Garden since high school, but even he needed directions to his locker following renovations at the arena. He bought only two tickets, but expected and got cheers in his first game here since beginning the Huskies' improbable run to a national championship by winning five games in five days here.

"Being that I'm from New York, just the things that I've accomplished in this building, of course last season from the Big East tournament, it was a huge tournament run for me and my teammates, so it's exciting," he said before the game. "It's an electrifying building."

He'll be back soon, as the Bobcats return Monday night.

Shumpert, wearing a black brace over his knee, checked in late in the first quarter and had five quick points. But the Bobcats scored the final four points of the period for a 30-26 lead, then carried that momentum right through the second.

Charlotte ran off nine straight points, with Mullens jumping right over Tyson Chandler to put back one miss, to extend their lead to 54-40. New York cut it to 62-52 at halftime, but the Bobcats came out of the locker room with the first four of the second half to push the lead back to 14.

NOTES: Corey Maggette strained his left hamstring and will have an MRI on Thursday in Charlotte. ... D'Antoni said Jared Jeffries (sore right calf) could return next week. The Bobcats' Tyrus Thomas (sprained left ankle) could be back later this week. ... Commissioner David Stern was at the game.

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Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Notebook: Bobcats 118, Knicks 110

By Adam Zagoria, for NBA.com
Posted Wednesday January 4, 2012 11:21PM

THE FACTS: Despite the return of Amar'e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert, the Knicks lost to the Charlotte Bobcats, 118-110, for their second straight defeat at Madison Square Garden. Even though they were playing the second leg of a road back-to-back, the Bobcats were the more energized team against a listless Knicks defense.

Boris Diaw, who entered averaging eight points, poured in a season-high 27 on 12-for-15 shooting and Gerald Henderson added a season-high 24 on 10-for-13. Charlotte point guard D.J. Augustin played brilliantly, notching 14 points, 10 assists and zero turnovers.

Byron Mullens scored a career-high 16 points off the bench.

After returning from a four-game absence due to a strained right MCL, Shumpert looked energized and aggressive in scoring 18 points off the bench, but he did suffer cramps in his left leg during the fourth period. When Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni took him out, the Garden fans chanted, "We want Shum-pert."

Stoudemire, who appeared somewhat listless after missing two games with an ankle sprain, tallied 25 points and 12 rebounds but struggled defensively. Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 32 for the Knicks.

QUOTABLE: "Any team in the NBA has a chance to beat you on any given night and the Bobcats showed that tonight."
-- Knicks center Tyson Chandler on losing to the now 2-4 Bobcats

THE STAT: The Knicks may soon need to examine their starting shooting guard situation. Shumpert was +1 overall in 30 minutes off the bench, while the starter, Landry Fields, was a -21 in 25 minutes. Fields, who has not been the same player since the trade for Anthony last February, shot 2-for-5 for five points.

TURNING POINT: For the second straight game, the Knicks got off to a poor defensive start in the first half, trailing by 14 points in the second quarter en route to a 62-52 halftime deficit. Charlotte shot 55 percent before the break and got a combined 40 points from Diaw (16 points), Henderson (13) and Corey Maggette (11). The Knicks also got behind Toronto, 51-34, Monday en route to a 90-85 loss.

QUOTABLE II: "The offense was good, just bad defense."
-- D'Antoni

HOT: Augustin had his second straight strong game for Charlotte, after going for 26 points and nine assists in Tuesday's 115-101 loss at Cleveland.

NOT: Knicks rookie Josh Harrellson suffered through his second consecutive ineffectual game after putting up 14 points and 12 boards in Saturday's start, and win, against Sacramento. Harrellson went scoreless with one rebound against Charlotte following a two-point, five-rebound performance on Monday.

NOTABLE: Charlotte rookie Kemba Walker returned to the Garden for the first time since leading UConn to the Big East Tournament title with five wins in five days last March. Walker only had to leave two tickets because his parents, Paul and Andrea, remained in Charlotte. He finished with seven points, five assists and two rebounds.

QUOTABLE III: "They [New York fans] love great basketball players. So if you're a good basketball player and you play hard and you're doing what you're supposed to do, they get behind you."
-- Walker on Iman Shumpert

INSIDE THE ARENA: Justin Tuck of the NFC East champion New York Giants attended. Asked by MSG's Jill Martin to describe the state of the team entering Sunday's playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons, Tuck said, "Ready."

UP NEXT: For the Knicks, Friday @ Washington, Saturday @ Detroit, Monday vs. Charlotte. For the Bobcats, Friday vs. Atlanta, Saturday at Indiana, Monday @ New York.

• Bobcats: Najera, Williams
• Knicks: Davis, Jeffries

• Bobcats: --
• Knicks: --

• Lead Changes: 1
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Officials: #57 Greg Willard, #6 Tony Brown, #44 Eli Roe
• Attendance: 19763
• Duration: 2:14