I went to the Garden last night and was treated to quite a show as the Knicks destroyed the woeful and decimated Pacers, 132-89. Yes, the Knicks won by 43 points. No, I am not talking about in NBA 2K10, this was in real life.
The Pacers starting lineup made me say "this will be the worst starting 5 in the NBA this season." and they lived up to my billing. Earl Watson, Luther Head, Mike Dunleavy, Josh McRoberts, and the Hib Dog Roy Hibbert stunk up the joint, as did the rest of the Pacers, and the Knicks got of to an early lead and never looked back. It was an early 6 PM Sunday start for the Knicks, and the Garden was packed and the crowd was roaring from the opening tip, like they sensed the spectacle that was about to unfold. Hibbert kept daring Lee to shoot, so he did, and he made them, and ended up with his expected 22 and 16. Luther Head (6'3") tried to matchup with Gallo (6'10"), who was looking to drive early and often, and played what may have been his most aggressive game to date. This newfound assertiveness was highlighted by a monstrous one handed throwdown followed by a pose for the camera. Here is the
video of the highlight of Gallo's career thus far, courtesy of
Big C. The Rooster was crowing, and finished with 20 points on just 9 shots, 8 rebounds, and 3 flashy assists (shoulda been one more but JJ missed a wide open layup after a no look pass from Danilo).Wilson Chandler has been great lately and had 23 points, 2 blocks, and a couple sweet alley oops. Chris Duhon was on fire, scoring 18 points and bombing 6 of 7 from downtown. Jordan Hill got to play in the 4th and looked good, stroking a few jumpers and wreaking havoc on the boards. All in all it was an incredible game that left me dumbfounded afterwards, like I would soon awake from this Knicks dream.
The Knicks should not be too thrilled with themselves, since they beat what was essentially a glorified D league team, but coming off a loss to the Nets a couple games ago, it was real nice to see the team dominate a game that they should dominate.
An interesting sidenote from this game, apparently Larry Hughes made some snippy comments about being kicked out of the rotation. He seems to think he lost his spot due to injury, which he also believes is faux pas in the NBA. I say who cares about these unwritten rules. Nate scored 41 points and led the team to victory and Hughes hasn't played well in a long time, and Coach D'Antoni can play whoever he wants. It stinks that this sour note from Hughes came after a hugely successful game that looked like it would really help the team build some chemistry. The success of the team should be the first priority, and obviously right now for Hughes it is not. I'm glad a selfish player like that is out of the lineup.
Another sidenote, I was thrilled to see AJ Price has won the backup point guard role on the Pacers, who have benched TJ Ford for some reason (maybe because he sucks). Price scored 11 points which is likely his career high. I guarded AJ in high school, and managed to hold him to a respectable 21 points if my memory serves me. My Phantoms could not beat his Amityville Warriors, who won the state title about every single year. I consider myself a defensive specialist, but one time he unleashed a wicked spin move on the fast break that spun me around, and caused me to spill to the hardwood as I tripped over my own feet.
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