Knicks Fall to Nets in Preseason Finale
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The Knicks closed out their pre-season on Friday night at Madison Square Garden with a disappointing 102-86 loss to their cross-river rivals, the New Jersey Nets.
Despite their recent hot play, the Knicks were again unable to stop the Nets on defense. The last time these teams met, New Jersey shot 56 percent from the floor. This time around, the Nets weren't as accurate -- shooting 46.9 percent – but they offered up a balanced offense that proved too much for the Knicks defenders.
Five Nets players scored in double figures, led by Vince Carter, who turned in an outstanding performance with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists.
The Knicks came out with great energy on Friday, but Carter was an uncontainable force. Even the Knicks' obvious energy and will to win weren't going to be enough against him on a night like this.
Through two previous wins over Boston and Philadelphia, the Knicks had owned the boards. On Friday, that stellar rebounding wasn't there, as they could not come up with the ball when they needed it most. New Jersey outrebounded the Knicks 52-39, enabling the visitors to get a lot of good looks in the paint. Most harmful, the Nets had almost double the second-chance points as the Knicks, a 23-12 margin.
The teams will not face each other again until a Dec. 5 game in New Jersey, and the Nets will come into that game with a six-game winning streak against the Knicks, spanning both the 2006-07 regular season and the 2007 preseason.
It was a tough way for a strong Knicks preseason to end. New York finished 4-3 in exhibition play and heads into the regular season playing playing with great confidence. Having more than a month to prepare for their next game against the Nets could make for a very different story in that first regular-season meeting on Dec. 5.
The Knicks' effort to get more playing time for the tandem of Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry was jeopardized by the fact that both big men got into relatively early foul trouble. Randolph had four fouls with 10:10 remaining in the third quarter, and he fouled out for good with 9:13 to go in the fourth. Curry had similar difficulty, picking up his fifth foul with 5:07 remaining in the third. Nevertheless, in the time they shared the court, the duo gave Knicks fans glimpses of what they can hope for from their frontcourt this season.
Randolph appeared comfortable at all spots on the court and was willing to station himself on the high post or even closer to the three-point line. On a couple of occasions he was able to feed Curry in the low block from his position on the high post -- giving Curry open looks from inside. Despite the duo's relatively limited minutes on the floor, they combined for 31 points on Friday, highlighted by Curry's 21, and were visibly more comfortable with each other than they appeared to be earlier in the pre-season.
David Lee, among others, picked up the slack when the two big men got into foul trouble, filling up the boxscore and providing his team with ferocious energy, especially on the boards. Lee had his usual double-double, with 14 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three steals and a blocked shot. His crowd-pleasing effort was a big reason why Knicks fans came away feeling optimistic about the season, despite watching the team lose on Friday.
Unfortunately for the Knicks, there was also some bad news on Friday. Forward Jared Jeffries went down in tremendous pain early in the first quarter and missed the rest of the game after having to be helped off the court. Even in the five minutes he played, Jefferies impressed, with two points, two rebounds, a steal and two blocked shots. He also displayed his trademark ability to defend four positions on the floor and provide the team with hard-nosed defense.
The deeper 2007-08 Knicks are better prepared to deal with injuries such as the one that felled Jeffries on Friday. Last year, New York lost Lee, Quentin Richardson and Jamal Crawford during the stretch run. Few teams can survive losing three of their top six players, which is the major reason that the Knicks missed out on the 2007 playoff party. This year's squad is far more capable, boasting a deep second unit of Nate Robinson, Lee, Wilson Chandler, Fred Jones, and Renaldo Balkman, who is out with an injury. Any one of those players is capable of playing starter's minutes if needed.
| THE TURNING POINT
With 2:16 to go in the first quarter, the Knicks trailed the Nets only by one point at 21-20. From there, however, the Nets went on a 14-0 run and put the Knicks in a hole that they could not escape. It started innocently, with an Antoine Wright free-throw. Wright then stole the ball from the Knicks on their way down the court, and Richard Jefferson was fouled, enabling him to hit two more free-throws. Jamal Magliore, who contributed 10 points and eight rebounds on the game, added two more with a put-back lay-up to give the Nets a six point lead. On the next Knicks possession, Curry was called for goaltending, giving the Nets the ball, and Jefferson scored again, this time on a lay-up, to close out the first quarter. The Nets picked right up where they left off, as they scored first in the 2nd quarter, on a Vince Carter jumper, followed by a Bostjan Nachbar 18-footer. Nachbar was not done, as he put in a long three-pointer to make it 35-20 with 10:21 remaining in the quarter. The Nets had a 15-point edge, a lead from which they would never look back. |
"I’m very confident heading into the season," Chandler said. "We've had a couple of good games and we're getting used to playing with each other. We've had a few injuries here or there, but we've got a lot of scorers and a lot of defenders. All the parts are here."
Despite Friday's loss, the team heads into the season confident in its abilities and with players who seem secure in their one major goal -- playoffs or bust.
"We're at that point" Curry said of his team's expectations and readiness. "I feel like we're real close, even though we haven't played a regular season game yet. It's just a feeling here that's a lot different than it's been in the past." Even with the loss, the Knicks have opened some eyes during their pre-season, and the team seems to welcome the higher expectations. With Knicks President, Basketball Operations, and Head Coach Isiah Thomas' off-season acquisition of Randolph and Jones, among others, the 2007-2008 New York team is more balanced, dangerous and deep than any other in recent memory and entirely focused on making their first playoff appearance since 2004.
"We have to do it this year," Crawford said of a playoff berth. "This is it. It's definitely time, no question about it. If we don't do it now, then there's no excuses."
Success in the preseason, particularly in the wins over Boston and Philadelphia, has given the Knicks a boost heading into the games that count. Despite their winning record in the preseason, the Knicks understand that their critics might still doubt them. They are comfortable with that notion, preferring to surprise people than to clamor for attention.
"I like not being on the radar," Crawford said.
Eddy Curry agreed.
"We don't really want to focus on making people notice us right now," said the Knicks center. "If we do our job, people will notice."
The Knicks regular season officially begins on Nov. 2 and Cleveland, with the home opener set for Nov. 4 against Minnesota at MSG (Get Tickets).
Quotes
Head Coach Isiah Thomas
On entering the season…
“I think we should be ok. I don’t think we will get off to as rough of a start as we did last year. For (Jamal) Crawford and (Stephon) Marbury this is their exhibition season. We are hoping we see two different guys. Now it is time for the regular season to start and I think our guys will be ready to play.”
On Jared Jeffries…
“I had a sub at the table for him. Hopefully it won’t be that serious but we didn’t make it out (of the preseason without an injury).”
On tonight’s game…
“There is a certain burn you need to get physically. I thought in the third quarter we put ourselves in a hole. In the third quarter we didn’t come out with our regular lineup, we came out with a different lineup. Then in the fourth quarter we tried to get it back. Minutes wise, there is a certain burn that you need to get to get used to playing that hard and playing with that type of intensity for x amount of minutes. I wanted to make sure they got that.”
On Jamal Crawford and Stephon Marbury…
“I know they are better players than what we have seen in the exhibition. A lot of the focus has been putting the ball inside but we definitely need a healthy compliment from our guards to be considered a dangerous team.”
Zach Randolph
On the preseason…
“I felt like we got some good things done in the preseason. It is my first time playing with these guys. I am still learning the plays. We are still working. We still have a week to go.”
On the upcoming week of practice…
“(We will) probably be focusing on Cleveland and what we need to do. It is a tough way to start off but it is a good test for us.”
On adjusting to playing with the Knicks…
“I think I am doing pretty good. I am getting better. I am pretty acquainted. I am trying to get back to my rhythm and just play basketball. I am just trying to let my game come to me and take what the defense gives me.”
On playing with Eddy Curry…
“We are still trying to feel each other. If I see him ducking in I am going to throw it to him on the block.”
Eddy Curry
On tonight’s game…
“We didn’t come out with the right intensity. We had our moments where we played the right way but for the most part it was too late. They (the Nets) are a very dangerous team to play around with.”
On the preseason…
“I thought we did pretty decent. I think we learned a lot this preseason. Now we have a good week of practice to really fine tune some things and go into Cleveland and get a game.”
David Lee
On the preseason…
“Overall we had a couple of games where we played well in the preseason but moving forward we have a week of practice to try to get better.”
On the upcoming week of practice…
“If we are not ready we need to get ready in practice. We have a good week of practice. I am looking forward to that. We are going to work on offense and defensive execution. Coach (Isiah) Thomas has done a good job of getting us ready in the past.”
Wilson Chandler
On the Nets…
“They are a really good team. They execute well. The type of game they play, they push the ball hard. They are a tough team to defend.”
On Isiah Thomas…
“Isiah is a great coach. He is a great person. He pushes us hard and we play hard for him.”
Jamal Crawford
On the season opener against Cleveland…
“I think it is going to be good. We have a chance to get some good practices in and I think we will bounce back. The preseason is over and you can’t ready much into it. The Cavs made the finals last year and their preseason they were 1-5.”
Fred Jones
On the team’s confidence heading into the season...
“We’re confident. The preseason is the preseason and you go through it. Now we just got to go back to the lab and get ready for the game. We start next Friday. That’s when it counts”
On Jared Jeffries…
“Unfortunately, we tried to get through the preseason healthy but that didn’t happen. We’ll see what the situation is with him. A teammate is a brother, so you always feel for him in his team of need. We’ll keep him in our prayers.”
Substitutions
First Quarter
Mardy Collins in for Jared Jeffries at 6:52
Fred Jones in for Jamal Crawford at 5:16
David Lee in for Zach Randolph at 4:06
Nate Robinson in for Stephon Marbury at 2:35
Marbury in for Robinson at 1:15
Second Quarter
Randolph and Crawford in for Curry and Collins at 12:00
Robinson in for Marbury at 10:19
Curry and Marbury in for Lee and Jones at 3:26
Lee in for Randolph at 1:47
Third Quarter
Marbury, Crawford, Malik Rose and Wilson Chandler in for Jones, Robinson, Randolph and Collins at 10:10
Jones and Robinson in for Crawford and Marbury at 5:47
Lee in for Curry at 5:07
Fourth Quarter
Randolph, Crawford and Marbury in for Chandler, Rose and Jones at 12:00
Curry in for Randolph at 9:13
