Knicks Battle Bobcats in Important Tilt at The Garden
Jan 6 2010 5:35PM
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Danilo Gallinari's block sealed the win for the Knicks the last time the Bobcats came to The Garden.
For the Knicks, the playoffs have already begun.
And it’s only January.
To make up for lost ground following a disappointing start to the regular season, the Knicks’ hopes of making the postseason depend on getting around the .500 mark and defeating teams like the seventh-place Charlotte Bobcats, who will visit Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
“These should be treated kind of like playoff games in the sense it’s a loss for them and it’s a two-game swing,” Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni said after Wednesday’s practice. “There’s a lot of (important) games this month we’ll have especially. We have Charlotte, Detroit a couple times, we got Chicago (twice in Feb.) and different teams. They’re not crucial crucial, but they’re very important games.”
The Knicks, winners of 11 of their previous 17 games, are only a game out of the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference standings with a 14-20 record following their 43-point win over the Indiana Pacers at home last Sunday. New York, Chicago and Milwaukee all have 14 wins, but the Knicks have played two more games than the eighth-seeded Bucks and one more than the ninth-place Bulls. Charlotte has 15 victories.
A win over the Bobcats, who many of the Knicks players consider a playoff-caliber team, would end the four-game season series between the two teams tied 2-2. The game might not mean much right now – there will be 47 more games left to play after this one - but at the end of the season it could play a major factor if both squads were to finish with the same overall record.
“We have to play our best to win,” center David Lee said. “They have gotten us twice in two tough games at their place and we beat them once here when they were a little shorthanded. It’s an important game because it’s a team that is close to us in the standings.”
The Knicks’ recent success has given them enough confidence to enter each game expecting to win, especially when playing on their home floor, where they have won seven of their last nine. That mindset has helped them keep games close after falling behind in the first half and has helped them put away opponents when leading down the stretch, two things they lacked during their 3-14 start.
The last time the Knicks met Charlotte back on Dec. 20, the Bobcats rallied from a 12-point deficit to get within one with over five minutes to play. But Danilo Gallinari was the Knick to rise to the occasion on this particular night, scoring eight points over the final 5:06 and blocking Acie Law’s potential game-tying layup with 4.9 seconds left to play. New York held on for a 98-94 victory.
“We are starting to carry ourselves with a nice little swagger and we are going into games expecting to win,” forward Al Harrington said. “So that’s what we expect and that’s what we’re going for tomorrow night.”
But don’t think that swagger is making them overconfident. The Knicks know they’re still not good enough to take plays off on either end of the floor or slack in practice. They believe they’re a playoff team but still know they have a ways to go before they’re considered a championship contender.
“We’re very aware that we could be a good team if we do the right things,” center David Lee said.
And it’s only January.
To make up for lost ground following a disappointing start to the regular season, the Knicks’ hopes of making the postseason depend on getting around the .500 mark and defeating teams like the seventh-place Charlotte Bobcats, who will visit Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
“These should be treated kind of like playoff games in the sense it’s a loss for them and it’s a two-game swing,” Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni said after Wednesday’s practice. “There’s a lot of (important) games this month we’ll have especially. We have Charlotte, Detroit a couple times, we got Chicago (twice in Feb.) and different teams. They’re not crucial crucial, but they’re very important games.”
The Knicks, winners of 11 of their previous 17 games, are only a game out of the No. 8 spot in the Eastern Conference standings with a 14-20 record following their 43-point win over the Indiana Pacers at home last Sunday. New York, Chicago and Milwaukee all have 14 wins, but the Knicks have played two more games than the eighth-seeded Bucks and one more than the ninth-place Bulls. Charlotte has 15 victories.
A win over the Bobcats, who many of the Knicks players consider a playoff-caliber team, would end the four-game season series between the two teams tied 2-2. The game might not mean much right now – there will be 47 more games left to play after this one - but at the end of the season it could play a major factor if both squads were to finish with the same overall record.
“We have to play our best to win,” center David Lee said. “They have gotten us twice in two tough games at their place and we beat them once here when they were a little shorthanded. It’s an important game because it’s a team that is close to us in the standings.”
The Knicks’ recent success has given them enough confidence to enter each game expecting to win, especially when playing on their home floor, where they have won seven of their last nine. That mindset has helped them keep games close after falling behind in the first half and has helped them put away opponents when leading down the stretch, two things they lacked during their 3-14 start.
The last time the Knicks met Charlotte back on Dec. 20, the Bobcats rallied from a 12-point deficit to get within one with over five minutes to play. But Danilo Gallinari was the Knick to rise to the occasion on this particular night, scoring eight points over the final 5:06 and blocking Acie Law’s potential game-tying layup with 4.9 seconds left to play. New York held on for a 98-94 victory.
“We are starting to carry ourselves with a nice little swagger and we are going into games expecting to win,” forward Al Harrington said. “So that’s what we expect and that’s what we’re going for tomorrow night.”
But don’t think that swagger is making them overconfident. The Knicks know they’re still not good enough to take plays off on either end of the floor or slack in practice. They believe they’re a playoff team but still know they have a ways to go before they’re considered a championship contender.
“We’re very aware that we could be a good team if we do the right things,” center David Lee said.
