Knicks Game 4 Recap

Knicks 117 Hornets 111
Record: 1-3

Box Score

The Knicks finally got a win last night, and it was a solid all around team effort.  David Lee led the Knicks in scoring with a quiet 28 points, Al Harrington dominated the 4th quarter with 13 points on his way to 24 total, and Larry Hughes continued his quest to make me feel like an idiot, with another efficient shooting night. Hughes finished with 20 points and 6 rebounds on 8-13 shooting.

The Hornets did there best after falling behind early, and went into the 4th quarter with a 4 point lead, but the Knicks stormed back and won somewhat comfortably in the end. Chris Paul and Emeka Okafor were the standout players, with Emeka dominated early and putting up 24 points and 10 rebounds, and CP3 leading all scorers with 32 points to go with 13 assists. Paul had only 3 points at halftime, but you knew that he was going to start attacking more on offense and as the game got down to the wire, he was nearly unstoppable. But it wasn't enough as the Knicks played tough interior defense and had enough offense to outlast the Hortnets.

Danilo Gallinari had a pedestrian statline compared to his 30 point masterclass on Halloween, shooting a poor 2-9 from the field and 1-6 on 3 pointers, but he did add 5 assists, 2 steals and a block. It was nice to see Danilo driving and finding teammates when his shot wasn't falling. A few flashy assists had me wondering if it was Gallinari or Larry Bird out there.

Jared Jeffries only played 16 minutes, which may mean that Coach D'Antoni is realizing that he is not very good at basketball, and can't really do anything well. Coach D did put JJ on Chris Paul in the 2nd half, and it immediately led to a flurry of swished jumpers from CP3, so it would seem Jeffries is good for nothing at this point. Jeffries also fell driving to the hoop and somehow busted up his eye, and was on the ground for a good 15 minutes.

The biggest story from this game has to be the play of Larry Hughes. I still yelled out "NOOO!" as he shot at least three times, but everytime I was made to look like a fool as the ball swished through the net soon after. I guess it will take a few more games like this before I am a true believer, but the Knicks have looked great with Hughes on the floor.

The Knicks started Duhon, Hughes, Gallo, Chandler, and Lee, in a small ball lineup, and this looked like it worked very well, with Chandler guarding power forward David West. The ball movement throughout the game was excellent, and the Knicks played aggressive, unselfish basketball. The Hornets actually attempted more 3's than the Knicks! If the Knicks showed their potential to be a solid team last night, and it seems like Coach D is starting to figure out his rotations. Let's hope they follow it up with a win tomorrow against Danny Granger and the Pacers.