Post Game Reaction: Knicks 103 Kings 100

The New York Knicks start their 5 game road trip in Sacramento tonight. It started on a good note as the Knicks beat the Kings 103-100. The Knicks looked like a middle of a pack team as they had good moments and bad ones. They had 16 turnovers, which led to over 20 points for the Kings but at the same time they had 22 assists and had 12 offensive rebounds. In reality Melo was the only consistent player. Here are a few of my observations. 

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Knicks dominate the boards. Another game where the Knicks attacked the boards. The Knicks out-rebounded the Kings 54 to 38 and had 12 offensive rebounds, which was converted to 9 second chance points. O'Quinn led the way with 11 rebounds in 20 minutes. This is one area the Knicks have shown that they consistently can dominate teams. It has helped them in key moments especially during crunch time.

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Melo saves the Knicks and almost lost the game as well. With all the talk about the Phil Jackson comments about Melo needing to pass more, Melo came out and showed why the Knicks need him. He carried the team tonight, scoring 33 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. He also almost lost the game as he missed two free throws with the Knicks up three and Cousins just missed a half-court heave as it hit the front of the rim. Still Melo played really well and was the lone offensive threat for the Knicks. They need Rose back soon as possible as they need more fire power. 

Knicks need another point guard. During this stretch without Rose, it has become very evident that the Knicks need another point guard. Jennings had to start and that left a huge whole with the second unit. Vujacic was the back-up point guard and finished with 1 assist to 2 turnovers, not going to get it down. The Knicks were a -4 with Vujacic at the helm and the offense looked very stagnant as they did not have anyone who could run the offense, when Jennings was not on the court. This has to be addressed as both Jennings and Rose are injury prone. 

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Porzingis still in a slump. Porzingis was already struggling the last 4 games as he was shooting under 35% from the field and tonight was no better. He made 6-19 from the field for 17pts. I think that Cleveland game really exposed Porzingis and how to handle him. Teams are going to play more stretch fours against him and look to play physical with him. He has really struggled to get to his spots on the court and the Knicks need to do a better job to get him easier looks. The Knicks were lucky to win tonight without Porzingis playing well and that needs to change or they could struggle going forward. 

With this win the Knicks move to 13-10 and rebound after that blow-out lose to the Cavs. The Knicks still have four more games on this west coast trip. The next game is against the Lakers on Sunday.