Game Thread: New York Knicks @ San Antonio Spurs 8:30 pm 3/25/2017 [Game#73]

rady

Administrator
Staff member

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(27-45) -- (55-16)

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AT&T Center, San Antonio, TXMSG8:30 PM EST


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Injury Report

New York KnicksSan Antonio Spurs
Joakim Noah - Sore Left Hamstring (OUT)Dejounte Murray - Left groin (OUT)
Carmelo Anthony - Sore Left Knee (QUEST)-
Derrick Rose - Sore Right Foot (QUEST)-
Lance Thomas - Sore Right Hip (QUEST)-




Game Preview

SAN ANTONIO -- The San Antonio Spurs will host the second in a series of games against teams they've lost to this season when the New York Knicks hit the Alamo City for a contest on Saturday at the AT&T Center.

The game is the second of a four-game homestand for San Antonio. In the first, the Spurs (55-16) finally found a way to beat Memphis after losing to the Grizzlies twice this season in Memphis, securing a 97-90 win with clutch play in the final minutes.

"Memphis is physical and they are really aggressive defensively," Spurs reserve guard Patty Mills said. "The game was a good preparation for us for the playoffs because that's how everyone plays."

With the victory, the Spurs crept back to within two games of idle Golden State for the best record in the NBA and the Western Conference.

The play of LaMarcus Aldridge was a key to the win on Thursday as he poured in 23 points and was a reliable scoring option for San Antonio to help offset the attention Memphis placed on slowing Kawhi Leonard, the Spurs' leading scorer.

Aldridge has been more aggressive with the ball in his five games back since he missed two contests with a minor heart arrhythmia. He has led the team in scoring in the Spurs' past two outings -- both of them wins.

"I'm just playing basketball and trying to be more dominant out there and taking my shots," Aldridge said. "I'm playing in the flow. I'm not being as passive as I was earlier in the year, and it's working out for me. I'm finding my rhythm out there, and my teammates are finding me."

The Knicks beat San Antonio 94-90 on Feb. 12 at Madison Square Garden. New York shot 64.3 percent from 3-point range (a Spurs' opponent season-best) in the win while holding San Antonio to 20.7 shooting from beyond the arc.

New York comes to south Texas off a 110-95 loss at Portland in which the Knicks never led.

Kristaps Porzingis scored 18 points for the Knicks, who played without Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose, both of whom were in action the night before in a loss at Utah. New York was playing its third game in four nights.

Porzingis missed his first five shots from the field and ended up 8-for-21 overall, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range.

"The attention was more on me tonight," Porzingis said. "I had a lot of good looks and some open 3s, and I was disappointed to miss them all. I missed a lot of good shots, and (making them) would have changed the whole game for us."

The Knicks (27-45) closed to within 10 points late in the fourth quarter before Portland used a 10-0 run to put the verdict on ice.

New York coach Jeff Hornacek was encouraged by the second-half effort.

"It was about just playing hard, getting after it," Hornacek said. "You're going to make mistakes as a young player, but if you play hard, sometimes those are hidden. The guys did a better job in the second half of getting the ball in to (teammates) when they had the advantage."

(cbssports.com)
 
Way to hang in there until the bitter end with these great game threads, Rady.

That starting lineup has pursue high lottery draft pick written all over it, but I'm not going to complain, these are the guys I want to watch play and hopefully develop. I can't imagine mustering any enthusiasm to watch Melo, Rose, or Lance Thomas play again before the end of the season.
 
Just read that Melo and Lance Thomas are definitely out tonight, but Rose is available. Rose still worries me for our efforts to get as good a draft pick as possible since he is playing for his next big contract. In the end, I doubt Rose can do enough to win us a game like this, but any minutes he gets are minutes we could be giving to someone who might actually be on our roster next season.
 

tiger0330

Legend
Yeah Rady has done a great job with not missing a beat with the game threads. Spurs chasing the Warriors for home court for the playoffs so I doubt they take this one lightly.

It behooves Horn to play tank lineups the rest of the way, not much to look forward to next year except the hope we can land a high draft pick and maybe cash in on Melo.

I've given up hope that KP is going to become a franchise player overnight, if he does become a superstar I think it will happen slowly and not overnight.
 
13 points in the 1st quarter from Kuz, but we're down 33 - 23 at the end of the 1st quarter. Our defense continues to be some of the worst I've ever seen
 
KP comes back into the game with 3 fouls and 5 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter. Hornacek doing whatever he can to try to keep KP on the court
 

tiger0330

Legend
4 fouls 2 pts on freebies. KP said he was disappointed in his performance last game, I wonder what he says about his game tonight.

Last thing I want him to do is go to the gym by himself to work things out, time to get him some real coaching and get him into the weight room as soon as the season ends.
 
I get the impression that the Spurs thought they could sleepwalk to this win. Strong 3rd quarter effort has got this to a 4 point game
 
Spurs turned it on when they needed to here in the 4th quarter and are on the verge of putting this one away
 
Brace yourself. With this loss and 9 games to play, we are now tied with Orlando for the 4th worst record in the NBA
 

tiger0330

Legend
Knicks had me worried because for some reason they play the Spurs tough and they got within 3 but they have now lost 5 straight. Dog fight for that 4th worst record so they may have to do worse than that 3-10 finish I predicted, maybe they have to drop all 13 to get the 4th worst record.
 

mafra

Legend
Brace yourself. With this loss and 9 games to play, we are now tied with Orlando for the 4th worst record in the NBA

The best news a NYK fan can hear. It's amazing to think how fortunate this organization is in 1 sense: when they re-signed Melo they had 1 first round pick in the next 3 drafts. I have to believe this was one of the main contributing factors in keeping Melo. It hurt too much to let him walk and receiving nada in return ... and losing Melo, ensuring a lottery-bound team for a few years, wouldn't jump start the rebuild bc NYK losing would only mean other teams get our lottery pick.

So, in spite of keeping Melo and hoping to be ok (instead of poop) actually didn't delay the rebuild. Somehow, the NYK maximizes the little draft capital they had.... walked away with KP and wHG and have a lottery pick this summer (maybe even a top 5 pick).

So, Melo being such a loser has actually saved Phil from himself.

Now, this means nothing if Jax screws up this summer. But, if he somehow trades Melo and walks away from
Draft/free agency with some young assets.... for once, something good came from that stupid decision to keep Melo.
 
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