Post Game Reaction: Knicks 93 Mavericks 77
The New York Knicks beat the Dallas Mavericks 93-77. The Knicks played very poorly in the first half and then a tweak to the lineup, sparked a second half comeback. Putting Holiday into the lineup changed the game totally. Here are a few of my other observations.
Another slow start for the Knicks. They only scored 15 in the first quarter and were down double-digits in the first quarter. 9th time that has happened. The starters looked slow and lethargic. They need to start better or they could fall behind and struggle to get back in the game. Luckily the Mavs are missing a few starters, so the Knicks were able to get back in this game. The Knicks only scored 36 points and shot 39.5% from the field in the 1st half. But they did play much better in the 2nd half.
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Holiday starts the second half. Holiday was the difference-maker in this one. His energy really changed this game. He finished with 16pts 4rebs 2 asts and was a +30 when on the court. Hornacek's move to start him was a smart one because the Mavs played small and he matched it with inserting Holiday into the lineup. This is something the Knicks should try more often going forward.
A tale of two halves for the Knicks offense. The Knicks only scored 36 points in the first half and then in the 3rd quarter alone they scored 31 points. The choice to start Holiday in the second half was a big difference. The defense was much better as they held the Mavs to 12 points and really dominated the third quarter to give them this win. Overall the Knicks scored 56 points to the Mavs 31 in the 2nd half.
Turnovers still a problem. The two biggest problems the first 9 games has been the turnovers and fouls. At least in this game the Knicks did not foul that much and actually outscored the Mavs in terms of free throw attempts 18 to 11. But the turnovers were still an issue as they had 18. This is something that needs to get better or better teams will take advantage of those turnovers.
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Melo and Porzingis carry the load. Melo did not have a good first half as he only scored 4 pts on 1-6 shooting and had 3 turnovers. But Melo played much better in the 2nd half, especially the 3rd when he scored 17 pts on 6-10 from the field. He was the main reason the Knicks outscored the Mavs 31-12 in the third quarter. Overall he had 24 points. Porzingis on the other hand played a very sound and solid game, scoring 24 pts and 11 rebs. He was the best player on the floor and was scoring from everywhere.
Knicks defense plays well. Overall they held the Mavs to 77 points on 37% shooting and they really locked the Mavs up in the 2nd half. In the 3rd quarter alone they held the Mavs to 12 points and that was the key quarter in this one. Granted this defensive effort was against a team that was missing its two best players but it still was encouraging and something to build off of.
This was a really solid Knicks win as they beat a team that they were suppose to beat. On a side-note, the Mavs called 2 timeouts down the stretch, when they did not have any. I have never seen that happen before. The Knicks play again on Wednesday against the Pistons, hopefully the Knicks can bring this same effort on defense for that game.
