That was a little heart breaking to not score any points in the second half, but overall I'm feeling good about our chances to take this second game and go back to Boston 1-1. Think about Miami last year and the torching they gave us. Pierce and KG were similarly poor in the first game.
We kept the New York Knicks to 85 points. That statement right there means we lost the game ourselves.
Our defense was excellent for the most part. We ran them off the three and they scored a lot of points off our turnovers. I don't feel they necessarily forced that many turnovers, we just gave them 15-20 points from bone headed plays.
Factors to learn from in game one:
*Some ridiculous turnovers and horrid passing from Avery Bradley cost us 8-10 points in the first half.
I think he'll calm down a bit more in the next game.
* Jason Terry was horrific on offense, he's going to be shooting for 3 days straight after that 0/5 effort. His defense was pretty good though.
*Crawford looked like a wet dog. Completely overwhelmed on both ends of the floor. He's a great pick up but having a veteran like Barbosa in a game like this on defense and the fast break would have helped us immensely. Both great scorers but Barbosa's defense and speed were sorely missed.
Doc had to yank Crawford pretty quickly once the Knicks started running Kidd off screens and nailing threes, completely exploiting Crawford.
* Our team defense was fantastic, particularly guarding the pick and roll. We had the green chain flowing in motion and it stunned the Knicks so much so that they reverted to watching Anthony go 1v1 for minutes at a time.
*Jeff Green wasn't too shy. More aggression is needed in the second half. He's so caught up in running the play that he misses opportunities to drive on a mismatch. Defense was excellent overall.
*KG and Pierce looked rusty and rather old- we all know they'll be good to go after a game one and a few days to recover/warm up for the bar fight.
*Bass was great on defense- we just need to get him more open looks or to the line.
I think we have a great shot at winning this series because of three main factors.
1) Tyson Chandler is obviously hurt more than they're letting on, and KG isn't.
2) We are controlling the flow and pace of the game superbly and forcing Carmelo to have a 35-40 point night. We ran them off the three very well.
3) because we are controlling the speed of the game, Carmelo is taking jumpshots. He's taking lower percentage shots more often and that should work in our favor. A) because they're low percentage and B) because they often generate into fast break points for us. I am very surprised Wilcox didn't get some burn and I think he will after Doc reviews the tape. Chandler being out now means Wilcox can't be exploited as much on the defensive end on the pick and roll with Felton.
Cut down the turnovers and we win this game. It was our game to lose and we choked a little bit- maybe we were gassed or nervous but we stopped moving the ball and attacking. Green needs more of the ball in crunch time.
It's expected that we lose one of the first two road games.
It's the hot streaking Knicks, at their home court. I guarantee they were sweating through this game and have realized they're in for a battle.
I like our chances now that Tyson Chandler is questionable.
I like us in 6 or 7 games now after watching game one. We can only get better and the Knicks aren't getting any better without Chandler and Melo shooting that many jumpshots.
If we can hold the Knicks to 85 points per game we win this series.
It's all about grit and balls baby.
Topic: Who's optimistic about beating the Knicks after game 1? Knicks=only 85 points (Read 2614 times)