How do we match up with the Knicks this year?

[CelticConcourse]

the knicks being a better team all season means nothing? 

Knicks have been a better team this season...deal with it

This season isn't all season. I still don't trust the Knicks to win four games in a seven-game series, with that type of inconsistency. As long as they lost games in January - March, I say we can win.

[PhoSita]

Bass and Amar'e would have nearly cancelled out

Uhm . . . excuse me?

In 5 matchups over the past two seasons, Bass has shot 53.7% on Amar'e while 54.5% on Bass.

Seems about even to me.

And Chris Wilcox is shooting over 70% for the season.  Clearly he's the best player on the team.

[PhoSita]

Maybe that's all blind optimism, but I like our chances.  This isn't Bucks/Heat we are talking about here.

It's definitely not as lopsided as Bucks / Heat.

I think the Celtics will fight hard.  But in the end I believe they'll lose in 5 games.  Remember, the Celtics lost in 5 games to the Heat in 2011 despite fighting hard and keeping it "close" throughout most of the games in that series.

The basic facts are that the Celtics are an awful road team, and the Knicks are a more talented, superior team with one of the best 2 or 3 scorers in the game on the roster.  I expect the Celtics to lose both games on the road and the Knicks to take one in the Garden.  Game 5 in MSG will be crazy, since it will be the Knicks' first chance to close a playoff series in a long, long time.  If the Knicks' bench players are fired up in that game, the Cs could quickly get buried from outside.

[Celtics18]

Another thing I've been wondering about the Knicks is if we'll see a lot of the Kidd and Play combination in the backcourt. 

[Celtics18]

Maybe that's all blind optimism, but I like our chances.  This isn't Bucks/Heat we are talking about here.

It's definitely not as lopsided as Bucks / Heat.

I think the Celtics will fight hard.  But in the end I believe they'll lose in 5 games.  Remember, the Celtics lost in 5 games to the Heat in 2011 despite fighting hard and keeping it "close" throughout most of the games in that series.

The basic facts are that the Celtics are an awful road team, and the Knicks are a more talented, superior team with one of the best 2 or 3 scorers in the game on the roster.  I expect the Celtics to lose both games on the road and the Knicks to take one in the Garden.  Game 5 in MSG will be crazy, since it will be the Knicks' first chance to close a playoff series in a long, long time.  If the Knicks' bench players are fired up in that game, the Cs could quickly get buried from outside.

I'll go Cs in seven. 

[j804]

Bass and Amar'e would have nearly cancelled out

Uhm . . . excuse me?

In 5 matchups over the past two seasons, Bass has shot 53.7% on Amar'e while 54.5% on Bass.

Seems about even to me.

And Chris Wilcox is shooting over 70% for the season.  Clearly he's the best player on the team.

It isn't 2007 Amare is far from the player he once was especially with all his injuries this year, he's right him and Bass in a series right now is about a wash.

BTW the Knicks do scare me though i've said it a couple times their high powered offense and depth with our inability to score at times and Melo playing out of this world will be really tough. It might be the best first round playoff matchup and most likely a classic there will be blood. I still will never count this team out they can be beaten for sure but they gotta be the favorites (and that's just how we thrive).

[Lightskinsmurf]

Me thinking the celtics will beat the knicks is not so much my belief in the celtics but my lack of faith in the knicks. I'm not buying into that team like some of you are. They live and die by the 3. They look great only when the 3 ball is falling consistently. I don't own a pair of green goggles.

[CelticsFan9]

Me thinking the celtics will beat the knicks is not so much my belief in the celtics but my lack of faith in the knicks. I'm not buying into that team like some of you are. They live and die by the 3. They look great only when the 3 ball is falling consistently. I don't own a pair of green goggles.

Agree.  TP.

[CelticConcourse]

They live and die by the 3. They look great only when the 3 ball is falling consistently.

That was what I was trying to say with my poor language skills.

[PhoSita]

It isn't 2007 Amare is far from the player he once was especially with all his injuries this year, he's right him and Bass in a series right now is about a wash.

No, even Amare coming back from an injury this season was far better than Bass.

Per-36:

Bass --> 11.1 pts 6.8 reb 1.0 blks on 48% shooting PER 12.1
Amare --> 21.8 pts 7.7 reb 1.1 blks on 57.7% shooting PER 22.1

Maybe in terms of 1 on 1 defense some advanced stats might tell you Bass was / is better this year, but that's about as far as that goes.  Otherwise, Amare was superior in every category this season.

[PhoSita]

Me thinking the celtics will beat the knicks is not so much my belief in the celtics but my lack of faith in the knicks. I'm not buying into that team like some of you are. They live and die by the 3. They look great only when the 3 ball is falling consistently. I don't own a pair of green goggles.

The problem with this line of thinking is that the Celtics also live and die by outside shots.  The difference is that the Knicks have a 7 foot center who can finish alley oops and is a better rebounder than anybody currently healthy on the Celtics.  They also have an superstar who is an elite scorer.  Carmelo doesn't just shoot threes.  He can also post up, drive, and get to the line.  The Knicks might lose a game at TD when their outside shots aren't falling, but they have plenty of other advantages to exploit.

It's not as though the Celtics have shown an ability to stop the Knicks from deep this season, anyway.

[CelticConcourse]

It isn't 2007 Amare is far from the player he once was especially with all his injuries this year, he's right him and Bass in a series right now is about a wash.

No, even Amare coming back from an injury this season was far better than Bass.

Per-36:

Bass --> 11.1 pts 6.8 reb 1.0 blks on 48% shooting PER 12.1
Amare --> 21.8 pts 7.7 reb 1.1 blks on 57.7% shooting PER 22.1

Maybe in terms of 1 on 1 defense some advanced stats might tell you Bass was / is better this year, but that's about as far as that goes.  Otherwise, Amare was superior in every category this season.

So how many points+rebounds has he averaged over New York's past 16 games? Oh wait...

[Lightskinsmurf]

Me thinking the celtics will beat the knicks is not so much my belief in the celtics but my lack of faith in the knicks. I'm not buying into that team like some of you are. They live and die by the 3. They look great only when the 3 ball is falling consistently. I don't own a pair of green goggles.

The problem with this line of thinking is that the Celtics also live and die by outside shots.  The difference is that the Knicks have a 7 foot center who can finish alley oops and is a better rebounder than anybody currently healthy on the Celtics.  They also have an superstar who is an elite scorer.  Carmelo doesn't just shoot threes.  He can also post up, drive, and get to the line.  The Knicks might lose a game at TD when their outside shots aren't falling, but they have plenty of other advantages to exploit.

It's not as though the Celtics have shown an ability to stop the Knicks from deep this season, anyway.

I hear you, I'm just not buying it. I don't think the knicks will beat the celtics 4 times in a series. The celtics don't live and die by the 3.

Yeah obviously if they aren't hitting jumpers they will struggle, you can say that about any team. I'm not impressed with the knicks having a good regular season. They have to prove themselves in the playoffs before I jump on that bandwagon. Celtics in 6.

[PhoSita]

It isn't 2007 Amare is far from the player he once was especially with all his injuries this year, he's right him and Bass in a series right now is about a wash.

No, even Amare coming back from an injury this season was far better than Bass.

Per-36:

Bass --> 11.1 pts 6.8 reb 1.0 blks on 48% shooting PER 12.1
Amare --> 21.8 pts 7.7 reb 1.1 blks on 57.7% shooting PER 22.1

Maybe in terms of 1 on 1 defense some advanced stats might tell you Bass was / is better this year, but that's about as far as that goes.  Otherwise, Amare was superior in every category this season.

So how many points+rebounds has he averaged over New York's past 16 games? Oh wait...

Yeah, so your rebuttal is that Bass and Amare are even because Amare has a knee injury and so can't play.

Very compelling.

[CelticConcourse]

It isn't 2007 Amare is far from the player he once was especially with all his injuries this year, he's right him and Bass in a series right now is about a wash.

No, even Amare coming back from an injury this season was far better than Bass.

Per-36:

Bass --> 11.1 pts 6.8 reb 1.0 blks on 48% shooting PER 12.1
Amare --> 21.8 pts 7.7 reb 1.1 blks on 57.7% shooting PER 22.1

Maybe in terms of 1 on 1 defense some advanced stats might tell you Bass was / is better this year, but that's about as far as that goes.  Otherwise, Amare was superior in every category this season.

So how many points+rebounds has he averaged over New York's past 16 games? Oh wait...

Yeah, so your rebuttal is that Bass and Amare are even because Amare has a knee injury and so can't play.

Very compelling.

If he doesn't play in the series against us, we shouldn't care about his production.