The Knicks took control in the third quarter and cruised to a 102-80 victory over the struggling Hornets.
Rookie Report
 |
Austin Rivers, SG 36 MIN | 5-10 FG | 2-7 FT | 1 REB | 4 AST | 14 PTS | -11Austin set a career high with 14 points, but let’s not be mistaken– he did almost all of his damage in the first quarter. While the four assists and zero turnovers are promising, he continues to look more like a college player than a pro. Overall it was a decent performance, and I’m sure some will point to it as positive, but he has a ways to go before he’ll be able to make a beneficial impact on a good team. |  |
 |
Darius Miller, SF 2 MIN | 0-0 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -8Miller played just two minutes and let Carmelo score on his twice. It wasn’t his finest two minutes… |  |
 |
Brian Roberts, PG 21 MIN | 4-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 13 PTS | -3Roberts provided some offensive spark as soon as he entered the game, keeping the Hornets within striking distance by scoring 9 points on his first three shots. He slowed down afterward, but all things considered, and relative to his teammates, it was a quality performance by the rookie guard. |  |
Five Things We Saw
- Carmelo Anthony was on fire in the first quarter, outscoring the Hornets 19-17 and making eight of his nine shots. I hate to place blame on anyone specifically since the entire defense was collapsing every time anyone so much as thought about driving inside, but Al-Farouq looked particularly bad. It wasn’t until Lance Thomas came in and gave Carmelo some of the same intensity he delivered in Vegas Olympic Trials that the Knicks star slowed down.Still, Melo scored 29 on the night in only 28 minutes of action and was the clear MVP of the game.
- The Hornets started off hot from the floor, but weren’t able to continue burying shots at the same rate in the second half. Midway through the game the Bees were shooting 50% from the field and from outside the arc– percentages well superior to what we normally see. In the third quarter they plummeted back down to earth, while the Knicks for the most part kept pace with their early results.By the time the fourth quarter rolled around the Hornets trailed by 19 and the game was all but lost.
- The Hornets struggled to both corral and control rebounds. While the Knicks were knocking balls to their teammates and coming away with additional offensive possession, the Hornets trailed 12-3 in offensive rebounds, and 33-27 on the defensive end with six minutes left in the contest.The Hornets had just one steal at that point as well, and had forced only six Knicks turnovers.Struggle…
- Anthony Davis didn’t play, and it sounds like he’ll likely miss the contest against Indiana tomorrow night as well. His ankle continues to give him problems, and the Hornets appear to be playing it safe with the season already spiraling downward.
- Monty Williams did not enter the game. ESPN had listed him in their box score as “has not entered game” throughout the contest.
18 responses to “Rapid Recap: Knicks Blow Out Hornets in Third, Sail to Victory”
It’s nights like these where I wonder where our offense will come from especially if our two best players are out. It’s just a bad night that I hoped would get easier but alas, Rivers and Anderson can’t do all the work. I mean with the way they play against teams where they are clearly the underdog, it just looks like a top 5 lottery team as harsh as it is to say.
It’s just frustrating as all hell to see a team struggle to score points as much as this team does especially in the 2nd half. This team gave you hope after storming back in the 2nd quarter that this game might be competitive but when you play awful perimeter defense and can’t rebound the basketball, then this team is as bad as Charlotte.
Please tell me things will get better because I can’t endure another lottery season especially if Mr. Bitch, Eric Gordon can’t play and doesn’t want to in a Hornets uniform.
You can’t endure another lottery season?^^
Hornets are years away from the playoffs–certainly not this year.
There’s a decent chance that we may have to wait until the Gordon contract finally expires in 4 years and begin rebuilding the team then before we begin sniffing the playoffs.
I prefer “Mr. Glass” for Eric Gordon. Can we please make that name a thing?
Seriously, someone with photoshop skills (i.e. not me) should superimpose Gordon’s face onto this pic…
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120511213537/villains/images/f/f3/Elijah_Price.jpg
*Presenting the impeccable Mr. Eric Glass*
[IMG]http://i48.tinypic.com/35kiygw.jpg[/IMG]
http://tinypic.com/r/35kiygw/6
http://i48.tinypic.com/35kiygw.jpg
lol, NOLAson… that’s classic ^^
I’m a big Monty fan, but sometimes I question his rotations. They killed our starting unit, which came back in at the beginning of the 3rd quarter. They killed that lineup again, and it seemingly took Monty forever to sub people in.
Also, I think Lance Thomas did a decent job on ‘melo. He was much more physical on him than Aminu.
Can Anderson get a call for the love of god!?!?
Last observation – J Smitty really hesitant to pull the trigger. I wonder how bad his hand/wrist injury is.
What happened to the team from the first for games just want them to compete even if they lose keep it close
Reality starting to sink in for the Hornets.
At least we can say that we had to play without our best 2 players. Though, technically, the Knicks were also playing without one of their best 2.
tough lose….the team hang in there the entire 1st half….3rdQ is always the problem of the hornets….always look flat starting the 3rd quarter…don’t know why….another lesson learned….well the future is bright….our time will come…..:)
This game we got nothing from the SF position and Coach didn’t have anyone to go to… Aminu and Miller had 0 points with Lance Thomas scoring 8…. Melo and crew at the SF position scored 49 points… 5 offensive rebounds..
Looking at the Hornets.. we are SCARED to shoot… And Mr. Vasquez dribbles far to much.. And we aren’t good enough to live by the 3… But we played a far better team with former players we virtually gave away in JR Smith and Tyson Chandler…
The HornAints are tanking for a top 10 pick lets go for it despite that we’re going to be the worst team in the west but not as worst as the Wizards,Pistons and Bobcats in the Eastern Conference.
Does anyone seriously expect us to be able to compete and stay in these games against the top level teams in the league at this point? They haven’t even played ten games together, much less with a healthy lineup.
The Knicks out rebounded us, out blocked us, out stole us, etc. They ended up taking 22 more shots that us. At an average 1 point/per shot that is your margin of victory.
The Hornets were dominated, and Davis playing doesn’t change that. I doubt Davis and Gordon playing change that.
Look at this and the OKC game to see how far behind the best in the League we truly are. There is still a lot of rebuilding still to do, and a lot of time to do it in.
Cant agree with what your saying here. Gordon and Davis are both game changers and this is a very different game if we have both of them. First off we have someone to run our offense through in Gordon something that seriously changes the way we play our game. With out a scoring threat teams simply play off us and clog the lane leading to more rebounds and less attempts at the rim for us. With Gordon on the floor they are forced to respect him and that creates space for Anderson and Davis.
Davis gives you someone who can actually rebound. And someone who can play a little bit of defense.
I was really looking forward to seeing Davis matched up on Melo tonight.
Another observation: I can’t tell you how many times I saw Rivers matched up against Steve Novak and the Hornets barely gave him the ball. And when they did give him the ball he didn’t take advantage of the matchup.
This team is one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in a basketball court. And the fault is all this GM who built this horrible team with excuse that it’s all for the future. What future? With these pathetic players, the Hornets will not win ever at any time.
I agree. All this “building for the future” is just an excuse for not being aggressive and going out and acquiring good players. Unless we trade for some good players we will continue to lose regardless of what draft picks we have. We need to dump Gordon as soon as possible and take whatever hit is necessary to trade him. Then we need to go out and spend the money to get people who can actually shoot the ball. When the Lakers got into trouble they went out and got some good players regardless of age. They want to win games but our team is only concerned about the “future”. More often than not, the future never materializes. If they keep this up, the only people left in the stands will be the rah, rah fanboys from this website.
I’m trying to stay calm about this but I will say that you Hornets fans……are becoming a disgrace. We lose four straight and all I see is negativity. This is OUR team and though I hate with a passion that they are losing. I hate some of the rotations. I hate some of the decisions. I hate that “injured” person not being dedicated…….The one thing though, I dont HATE my team or just BASH them. I cant wait for them to start winning.
So if your actions apply to this message……do like the rest of the fans in this league and go jump on another team’s bandwagon. I’m proud of my city and this team and I will back them up no matter what.
There are legit reasons to stay even tempered during this rough stretch.
On the other hand, you have to realize that this is a big money business and the Hornets are a commercial product. I for one, am a paying consumer, having signed up for league pass. I’d also go to the games, if I lived in NO. As paying consumers, fans have a right to disclose their feelings. Nothing says that we have an obligation to blindly cheer away every bad shot, missed defensive assignment and front office snafu.
In fact, I consider cheering and booing as morally neutral. They are both the prerogative of the paying fan (or any fan, for that matter).
After all, this is a professional basketball team we are talking about, not a team of scientists searching for a cure to cancer.