The beloved Knicks took on the Portland Trailblazers Tuesday night in what was a game the Knicks needed. After taking one on the chin on Sunday to the Lakers, the Knicks needed to bounce back with energy and more offensive efficiency on this occasion. Well, you can say they did.
The first half featured the Knicks jetting out to a 10 point lead and eventually stretched it to 10+ at one point. The Blazers looked very sloppy and the confidence seemed to radiate right out from under them. Until, late in the second quarter where the Blazers made a run and cut the Knicks lead to 56-50 by half time. Amar'e Stoudemire was frustrated time after time again in the first half with the size of LaMarcus Aldridge and Marcus Camby. Stoudemire was even granted a technical foul after yelling at the officials on a non-call at the rim.
Bring on the second half and the Knicks looked just like they did on Sunday, dead. Their lack of energy and lethary on both sides of the ball allowed for that confidence to be instilled back into the Blazers. Not a good sign for many Knicks faithful. Both teams would scratch and claw throughout the third and the Blazers even grabbed a two point lead late. The Knicks showed their ability, though, to styme any type of big run by the Blazers with their ability to get up the floor and knock down the three ball or get a good open shot inside the arc.
In the fourth quarter, the Knicks did what the Knicks have proven they can do. Take over. Purely and methodically the Knicks went on a 13-3 run and never looked back. Raymond Felton regained his poise and it was like he hit the reset button on a badly played video game. Felton led the Knicks offense and made a couple of sharp passes that led to easy buckets. The run was capitalized by a huge alley-oop play to Wilson Chandler on a fast break and then on the ensuing possesion, Felton hit a streaking Stoudemire for an emphatic slam. The whistle blew for a Blazers timeout and the rest is history. The Knicks win going away by a score of 100-86.
A nice stat line for the night was the emergence of Ronny Turiaf. Turiaf started the game to help counter the size of Aldridge and Camby down low. He actually caught infuego in the second half and in the fourth quarter particularly, ending his night with 19 points. That producion from the rugged Turiaf would be welcomed on a nightly basis. Right?
Key Stats: Chandler 17, Stoudemire 23, Felton 17, Walker 10. (points)
Turiaf 10, Stoudemire 8 (rebounds)
Felton 14, Fields 4 (Assists)
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