Game Thread: New York Knicks vs Boston Celtics 7:30pm 1/12/2016

Glad to hear it's just the ankle for Melo too. Shouldn't miss too much time. Scared it wasn't a knee or hammy for a sec' there..Thank God
 
Receiving Jerian Grant for pigeon poop was probably the second biggest steal of the draft behind the Knicks selecting Porzingis.
 
Since I moved out of NY I can't always see the games. I was so glad I purchased this game through NBA league pass. (I sound like a commercial) I was hard on Grant and happy to see him do well. Hope this is the start of him taking over the pg position. What sparked his confidence?? LET'S GO KNICKS!!!!!
 
I would be surprised if that ankle keeps Melo out next game. x-rays were negative according to Haarlow and it just didn't look that serious.
 
This win reinforces the fact that this team has improved and is now focused on winning. The 1/1/16 turning point might be a legitimate claim indeed.

Tonight illustrates what I have always preached: so much easier to win in the NBA when you get production from your guards.

Affalo and Grant took over the game... ROLO gave them support and Williams floAted around engaged and willing to try and make a play.

To win when KP and Melo were out... BIG statement. Now go 3-1 next 4 and we'll be 2 games above .500 after the midway point. This may be a 40 win team afterall!
 
tiger0330 said:
That honor belongs to Chicago and Bobby Portis.
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I just don't get the recent obsession on this forum with Bobby Portis. Dude has 4 double digit scoring games and 2 double digit rebounding games on the year. Maybe Knicks' fans just think he is doing better than he has been doing because 2 of his few good games were against us. I don't know.
 
Thirty-five fourth quarter points.

27-30 from the FT line.

16 & 8 from Grant (10 in the 4th).

20 second half points for AA.

ROLO and D-will with 15 apiece
 
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mafra said:
Thirty-five fourth quarter points.

27-30 from the FT line.

16 & 8 from Grant (10 in the 4th).

20 second half points for AA.

ROLO and D-will with 15 apiece
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Missed last night's game but I've been a strong advocate of his development since Day 1. Wanted him to start and for us to be patient with his highs and lows, ups and downs. He was catching hate crimes from fans almost a month ago. He and #kporzee need to start developing major chemistry not next yr, not now, but right now.
 
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I'm rooting for Grant -- and I hope you're right. With this soft part of our schedule, and with Calderon so ineffective, I think I would make the move to start Grant tonight and give him real minutes. Like you said, developing the chemistry between the rookies more important than an extra win or two.

I have faith in Fisher (being able to mild Grant psychologically)... And I think we have stuck with Jose with the hope he played well enough where we could dump his contract.

But, no doubt, what we saw from JG last night was big time (8 assists and 0 turnovers) and now he needs to be rewarded for the effort.
 
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pat said:
But Calderon: +8.
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Calderon has a lot of miles on those aging legs... I believe he, like Lopez, struggled a bit learning this offense. The injury last year didn't help... Jose is a leader and a good locker room guy. He helps the younger players... And he was almost elite in two things: shooting from downtown and his career assist to turnover ratio. Those 3 things made up for his defensive deficiencies.

There's a reason NYK last in NBA in forcing turnovers... No on-ball pressure from our PG a big factor in why we don't get many steals.

Calderon, right now, is the ideal backup PG. if he wasn't making so much cash next year... I would t be in such a Rush to jettison him out of town.

I think it's time to let Grant play the bulk of minutes at the point. I think DF has been coaching him up... With Brooklyn, Memphis, Philly and Utah now is the time to see what JG can do with the full support and confidence of the coaching staff. Much like how they unleashed Williams... Grant must be allowed to play, and make mistakes, without fear of being benched.
 
Not sure what happened but that's the second time I tried to edit a post on my phone and the post got deleted.

+8 for Calderon just shows how flawed those +/- minus numbers can be sometimes. Anyway my previous post said if Fisher wants to to something special this season he's got to make a change at PG, the position that needs to be improved the most. It was only one game but Grant was clearly better than Calderon yesterday on both sides of the ball, he deserves more minutes to see if he can shoulder a bigger role on the team.
 
This was probably the best Knicks game I've seen in years. After Melo went down and Porzingis had 4 fouls I thought that the Celtics were going to step on our throats and prance their way to yet another victory over us. But despite Isaiah Thomas playing like a prime AI and Crowder hitting 3 pointers like R.Miller the 2015-16 Knicks showed that they had one thing that the Knicks of the previous two years lacked, and that is heart.

Even though I've criticized Arron Afflalo, Robin Lopez and Derek Fisher more than most Knicks fans have they really stepped up in this game. Afflalo taking over Melo's role on offense, Robin Lopez's defense and Derek Fisher's rotation and game management were all ingredients for this Knicks win.

As for Jerian Grant, what more could you have asked from him? Less than a month ago people saw him as the appendix of this team but his determination is why he could be impacting future Knicks games the way he did last night. He caught me by surprise when he took off in the 4th quarter. His defense is there but if he develops a better offensive game we will soon be seeing the last of Jose Calderon.
 
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