Holy moly folks. Last night was the first time I was literally comfortable watching a Knicks game mid way through the third quarter as the Knicks held a nice 22 point cushion. Without the likes of Chauncey Billups in the lineup, I was rather uneasy of the performance we were going to see from Toney Douglas. Hence the artilce I had written before yesterday's game about bringing in Carlos Arroyo. Well, as I sit here and eat crow at least after last night, I am more than thrilled to see Douglas step up and fill the void like he did last night.
24 points for the young gun and he got to the basket countless times for layups. Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e followed suit with strong performances, each over 20 points. Finally and I really mean finally, Shawne Williams was able to find his rhythm from deep and show glimpses of what he was in the beginning part of the season for this Knicks team.
Defensively, I have to hand it to them. The Knicks came out with a purpose and took Chris Paul out of his comfort zone which also took David West out of his zone as well. Once you stop one of the two, the pressure is on and they did not rise to the occasion. The only player who was notably productive for the Hornets was Jarrett Jack. Yes, that's right, Jarrett Jack. So defensively, the Knicks did a great job.
It was nice to see Jared Jeffries back in a Knicks uni and he showed his hustle after rebounds and defensively. That's great. Because that's solely what he is here for. Leave the scoring to Melo, Stoudemire, Billups, Fields, Williams. Jeffries, you play D!
All in all it was a great feel good win for the Knicks moving forward to Friday when they host the pesky Cavs. The same Cavs that have beaten the Knicks in Cleveland twice this season.
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