By Kyle Soppe
The Trailblazers dominated the first 70 seconds of the first game in the Knicks Mike Woodson era, outscoring the home team 2-0. The next 46 minutes belonged to the home team, as the Knicks dismantled Portland 121-79 on Wednesday night.
New York needed only two quarters to compete with the 79 total points of the visitors, as they scored 73 total points in the second and fourth quarters.
The term “fool’s gold” comes to mind about this explosive performance, as the Knicks were extremely hot from deep. As a team, they scored 57 points from the land of three, and only 48 points from inside the arc. Ask the Magic if this game plan works on a consistent basis.
Their bench did the majority of the damage from distance, as JR Smith and Steve Novak combined to make 13 triples on 54.2% shooting from three. They were sitting at the three point line all night, and only attempted five shots from two. Novak and Smith each connected on more three pointers than the Blazers did as a team. The home team was +42 from behind the arc, the exact difference in the final score.
The Knicks, especially Melo, shared the ball better than any point in the Mike D’Antoni reign. They assisted on 79.5% of their buckets, as compared to 39.3% by Portland. Melo handed out a season high seven dimes, improving the Knicks to 4-3 when he sets up at least six scores. Again, if the Knicks are making triples, it covers up a lot of deficiencies, including Carmelo’s tendency to hold the ball.
Could this symbolize the end of the Lin era? It was generally believed that Lin’s emergence saved D’Antoni’s job for a little bit, and thus D’Antoni was tied to the play making point guard. In Woodson’s inaugural game, Baron Davis played only five fewer minutes than Lin, and was much more efficient. Neither player scored much, but BDiddy had a 10:1 assist to turnoer ratio, while Lin struggled with a 1:1 ratio. Since he stormed on the seen one month ago, Lin had yet to attempt fewer than six field goal attempts until yesterday. He is a solid point guard, but in an offense that has firepower, his skill set doesn’t fit in as good as it once did.
Where to start with the Trailblazers, my preseason sleeper for the Western Conference. At their current scoring rate, it would have taken them 25.52 minutes (over two quarters) to match the Knicks 121 points.
They actually outscored the Knicks from the free throw line, but their inability to guard the three point shot more than nullified their lone advantage.
Gerald Wallace and Chris Johnson led the team with a mere three assists, a number that was doubled by three Knicks. Tony Parker of the Spurs recorded more assists than the entire Portland team.
Luke Babbit was the only Trailblazer to shoot over 50%, while JR Smith was the only Knick (minimum of two shots) to shoot under 50%.
Basketball overload with March Madness and five NBA games: and by overload I mean just the right amount. Post or tweet (@unSOPable23) any hoops thoughts/questions/requests.
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