Post Game Reaction: Knicks 111 Grizzlies 104

The New York Knicks played their home opener tonight as they beat the Memphis Grizzlies 111-104. That makes seven straight wins in home openers. Here are a few of the observations that I saw from this game. 

The Knicks scored a 100 points. The new revamped Knicks offense was on full-display. They ended up scoring 111 points, dished out 24 assist and had a 11 fast break points. Last year they had very few games, where they scored at least 100 points and that will change with this new offense as they go more and more away from the triangle. This uptempo offense should lead to more wins. 

Melo was not the leading scorer. In a rare game Carmelo Anthony was not the leading scorer and the Knicks won. Porzingis led all scorers with 21 points. Also Noah led the team in assists with 7 and rebounds with 10. Rose also scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. Melo has got more help this year and it should ease the burden and limit the load that Melo has to carry.

Rose looked like his old-self. Rose looked sharp in this one, showing burst of speed and his ability to finish over defenders using his athletic ability. In the first half, he struggled to get into a rhythm but in the second half when the Knicks needed him, he came up big. He finished with 13 points 4 rebounds and 3 assists. 

Holiday gave them some nice minutes. The Knicks bench still needs work but Justin Holiday gave them some needed help off the bench. He scored all of his 8 points in the second half and was a key cog in the Knicks final 12-0 run to put this game out of hand. He should get more playing time going forward. 

Half-court offense needs work. As the game progressed the Knicks offense struggled. After scoring 32 in the first, they did not score more than 30 in any other quarter. As the Grizzlier made shots and forced the Knicks into the half-court, they struggled to generate the offense as they became very stagnant. The other issue was that whenever Melo had the ball, the other four Knicks were left to watch as Melo would go iso. That should get fixed as the team gains more chemistry but they need to limit those iso for Melo because it takes away from the offense. 

Hack-a- Noah sighting. As expected teams will try to get Noah out of the game by fouling him. It took four quarters but we saw it down the stretch. More teams will do that going forward and Noah will need to make free throws or the Knicks could lose their best playmaker and defender. As a team the Knicks missed 14 free throws, that has to improve. If the Knicks had made their free throws, the Knicks would have put this game away earlier. 

Overall a solid performance from a team that is still figuring it out. But tonight you got to see all the different pieces and how they would fit together. Next up are the Detroit Pistons.