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This Week In Knicks: Knicks Dominate Over Five-Game Win Streak

Jonathan Fishner

Published Feb 6, 2013

Modified Feb 6, 2013

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Jonathan Fishner

Published Feb 6, 2013

Modified Feb 6, 2013

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The Knicks took care of business in their easiest stretch of the season so far, beating the Magic (113-97), Bucks (96-86), Kings (120-81) and Pistons (99-85). The four easy victories made it a five-game winning streak for the Knicks, whose return to early-season form left them 31-15 on the year, their best start since 1996-97.

That season, emotionally stunted fans may recall, ended with an Eastern Conference Semifinals loss to Alonzo Mourning and the hated Heat in what is locally referred to as "the series where Charlie Ward got suplexed and all the Knicks got suspended but not at the same time, which would have been better."

This year's iteration of the Knicks seems to be in the midst of lining itself up for another showdown with the Heat deep in the playoffs, one where it just might take another suplex and on-court wandering for the Heat to escape. Three games ahead of the next closest team, the Knicks are just half a game behind the defending champions in the Eastern Conference and are playing as well as they have all season.

What Went Right This Week: Playing against admittedly weak opponents, the Knicks took care of business the way good teams do, winning by an average of 19.8 points a game. And even if the Knicks weren't facing murderer's row, they kept their focus throughout and handled the Bucks, a solid playoff team flying under the casual fan's radar.

Amar'e started the week strong with a 7/7 shooting night against the Magic and kept it going, peaking with a 10/10 performance against the Kings. Flourishing off the bench, Stoudemire averaged eighteen points a game on 71% shooting as he proved last week was no fluke: he's shown a legitimate back-to-the-basket post game complete with lefty hook, is explosive in a way he rarely was even last season, and is far more active without the ball on both ends than he's been in the past. And he even busted out the tomahawk that's been his signature since he got to the league:

JR Smith worked his way out of an extended shooting slump and moved on to jacking without remorse, taking three three-pointers on a single Knick trip downcourt against the Kings, before making the last (that's basically unheard of). He also did this, keeping the mood light:

Some fans might not care for Smith's shot selection, but the Knicks are a better team when he's feeling lucky.

Raymond Felton worked his way back to game speed and had the Knicks offense firing on all cylinders by week's end. Although he wasn't scoring like he did early in the season and had some trouble defensively, Ray settled in and got back to his usual orchestration, averaging 8.5 assists a game and getting the Knicks back to their pick-roll-and-draw-the-defense offense.

Coming off a brutal effort against Atlanta, the Knicks used the week to re-establish themselves on the defensive end. After a hideous defensive first quarter (they gave up 31 points) and another torching by an opposing backcourt against Orlando as Jameer Nelson and JJ Redick combined for fifty points, the Knicks buckled down and played strong team defense for the rest of the week, holding the explosive Bucks duo of Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis to just thirty points. Jennings, ever-mad at the Knicks for taking Jordan Hill over him in the 2009 draft, usually does that to the Knicks by himself. The Magic were the only team that got beyond the ninety-point threshold and even in that game the Knicks held them to just 66 after the first quarter.

Oh, and don't worry: the Knicks still have Carmelo Anthony. It was a relatively quiet week for Melo, who came in slumping but finished with an efficient 27-point performance against Detroit. Melo's week was most notable for the end of his 31-game streak of twenty points or more, a new Knicks record. Now that the dog days of the NBA season have arrived, the less the Knicks ask of their star the better. This week was a success for asking Melo to do nothing of note.

Find Me a Cloud: Yessir. Orlando and Milwaukee kept it close into the third quarter, so neither game was as easy as the final score made it look. And against Orlando, Felton and Iman Shumpert's perimeter defense wasn't up to snuff as Nelson and Redick did whatever they wanted for most of the game.

Speaking of Shump, now installed as the Knicks starting small forward: it's clear he's not 100%. There's nothing to be alarmed about yet, as he's only nine games into his comeback from major knee surgery, but so far he's not the explosive player he was before the injury. His defense hasn't been as disruptive and his forays to the basket haven't had last year's oomph. On the bright side, he's shooting 44% from three, which if it keeps up would be a welcome addition to his game (he shot just 30% last year.)

Player of the Week Far and away, Tyson Chandler. Chandler had back-to-back-to-back twenty rebound games to end the week, making him the first Knick to do that since Willis Reed. And that's after he started the week with a 10/11 shooting, 21-point, five assist game against Orlando. This is Chandler's first time getting the Gothamist Knicks Player of the Week award, but he's come in second pretty much every other time: he plays defense and rebounds every night and his utility as a screener/finisher on the pick-and-roll is just as important to the Knicks offensive gameplan as Raymond Felton's ballhandling and decisionmaking. Tyson Chandler's statistical achievement earned him the honor this week but it's his entire body of work that deserves recognition.

Jokes and Jokes and Jokes: There was the JR Smith airball free throw. There was Kurt Thomas, making just the ninth three-pointer of his seventeen year NBA career against the Kings. And there were kids, two sets of them. The first showed their love for Iman Shumpert's hair. The second froze out JR Smith during halftime of the Pistons game, showing an understanding of irony well beyond their years:

Up Next: The Knicks have four games before the All-Star break and should be favored to win each one, although it likely won't be as easy as the last four were. They travel to play the improving Wizards and John Wall tonight, and then head to Minnesota to play the Wolves who are still without Kevin Love. They follow that up with a home matinee against the slumping Clippers, who may still be without Chris Paul, and finish up with Toronto and their recently acquired star Rudy Gay. And while the Knicks don't have to win all four, heading into the All-Star break on a nine-game winning streak would be a fitting end to the season's first fifty games.

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this week in knicks

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Jonathan Fishner

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