Knicks improve to 5-2 home at home with win over Hawks
The Knicks continued their early season up and downs with a nice win over the Hawks Sunday afternoon at the Garden. Carmelo Anthony led the team with 31 points while Kristaps Porzingis added 19 and 11 to help the Knicks to a 104-94 victory to move to 6-7 on the year.
It was one of the best wins of the young season beating a Hawk's team who came to the Garden with a 9-3 record. The Knicks improved to 5-2 on their home court this season winning their last three at MSG. The Knicks have yet to string together a winning streak of more than two as they are 1-3 in games following a win. This team has shown that they can play with the best in the league when they put together a complete game on both sides of the ball, but they haven't been able to do it consistently.
Through the first 13 games it's been a toss up as to which Knick team we're going to see. Some nights you'll see the team that beat a solid Bulls team on the road in Chicago and other nights you'll see the team that was blown out by a Wizard's team that's 2-8 on the season. It's frustrating to watch as a fan, but it's still early in the season for a team that's still trying to figure things out. Yesterday was one of the first games all season where they got the job done on both sides of the floor. The offense shot a solid 47% from the field while holding the Hawks to 40% shooting. They finally out rebounded a team and shot 39% making 10 threes while holding Atlanta to 28% on only 6 three pointers made.
One thing that should not go unnoticed was the team's performance minus Joakim Noah. Noah was absent from yesterday's game with an illness and the team didn't miss a beat without him. Noah has yet to make the impact Phil Jackson had hoped for when he signed him to a four year deal over the summer. In last week's win against the Pistons the Knicks won the game with Noah on the bench down the stretch while the team closed out the game. There's no question that the Knick's best offensive lineup is with Melo at the 4 and KP at the five and Noah on the bench. Those two are matchup nightmares for the opposition and gives the Knicks their best chance to win with that lineup. Noah is a liability on offense and he hasn't hit his stride yet as the anchor of this defense. Obviously they're going to have to make things work with Noah on the court this season and the next three years, but it's something to keep an eye moving forward.
Some other news and notes:
Kyle O'Quinn had another solid showing starting for the missing Noah in yesterdays win. O'Quinn had eight points and eight rebounds as he was a +12 in his 18 minutes of play. O'Quinn has really played well in limited minutes. His offseason weight loss has clearly helped him bring more energy off the bench as evident by his 4 blocks per 36 minutes.
O'Quinn provided a huge spark at 5 for the Knick's in the first half, but it was Willy Hernangomez who gave the team a boost in the second half. Willy played a career high 29 minutes contributing seven points and eight boards with a +11. Give credit to Phil Jackson for acquiring the 22 year-old Spaniard in last year's draft. He's had some nice moments in his rookie season and looks like he has a chance to be a very productive player for this Knicks team for years to come.
The Knicks will host the 8-7 Blazer's tomorrow night as they'll look to get to back to .500 for the first time since winning their home opener in game two. They'll likely be without Noah again who is still sick as they'll need another good showing from the duo of Hernnagomez and O'Quinn. It's the second game in a stretch of five straight games against teams over .500. The Knicks have the talent to beat these teams, but it's going to come down to them executing on both sides of the ball to get the job done.
