Knicks take 4 game road win streak to Phoenix
After starting out the season 1-6 on the road the Knicks have now won four in a row away from home including the first two on their current west coast trip. With wins over the Kings and Lakers the Knicks are now 14-10 on the season and sit third in the Eastern Conference Standings. Carmelo Anthony had 33 points in the win over the Kings while Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick Rose led the way over the Lakers. While the competition of late hasn't been great the Knicks are taking care of business against teams they're supposed to beat. All they can control is beating the next team on the schedule and they're doing that right now as evident by their 9-1 record opposing teams under .500.
Following their three point victory in Sacramento Friday night the Knicks welcomed back Derrick Rose to the lineup in LA after his two game absence. Rose's back spasms didn't seem to be an issue at all as he scored 25 points on 12-16 shooting in the Knick win. Rose looked like his old self starting the game 8-8 from the field. His ability to get into the paint and make contested floaters and layups was on full display in the 118-112 win. Any thoughts of Rose's injury lingering moving forward were put to rest for one night with his vintage performance.
Kristaps Porzingis has been struggling from the field of late with his jumper, but snapped out of his shooting slump Sunday night. KP scored 26 on 8-15 from the field including 3-4 from the three point line. He also picked up a season high seven blocks along with 12 rebounds in an all around monster performance. It was just another example of how he could dominate a game in a multitude of ways. Despite his recent shooting struggles he has remained a force on the defensive end. As the season has progressed KP has become a better rim protector causing havoc near the basket contesting and blocking shots. His rebound numbers have improved as well as he picked up his fourth double double in his last five games.
Although the Knicks recent road win streak has come against teams outside of the playoff picture you have to like where this Knicks team is at right now. They're beating the teams they're supposed to beat which is something they'll have to do to stay this high in the Eastern Conference Standings. Sure they're 5-9 facing teams with winning records, but they've had some impressive victories against some good teams. They beat a solid Bulls team on the road in Chicago and a Grizzlies team that is 17-8 in the Western Conference. They've been completely blown out by the Cavaliers twice this season, but outside of that they have shown they can compete with any team in the league.
Credit has to be given to Jeff Hornacek for the job he has done after a rough start to the season. We knew it was going to take some time for this team to click as a whole and Hornacek has been the leader behind their recent 9-3 stretch. The bench, which was thought to be the teams biggest issue early in the season has been one of the teams strengths, led by Brandon Jennings and Kyle O'Quinn. They're getting contributions all over the roster which is a testament to Hornacek and his rotation choices, and the team for trusting that they would figure things out.
Tonight they'll face another team they should beat in the 7-17 Suns before finishing off the trip with a big test against the 21-4 Warriors. While Jeff Hornacek will say tonight is just another game you can bet it's one that he would love to win following his firing as the Sun's head coach last season. It was a bad breakup between Hornacek and Phoenix as he lost the locker room and his team unfairly quit on him. Luckily for Hornacek and the Knicks he's in a much better situation now in New York coaching a team that continues to impress and get better with each game they play.
