Knicks Win Streak Ends vs. Wizards

By | 2016-10-28T19:42:10-08:00 November 5th, 2014|News|Comments Off on Knicks Win Streak Ends vs. Wizards

After stringing together two remarkable wins, Derek Fisher’s first winning streak as an NBA head coach came to a halt Tuesday night, after his New York Knicks fell to the Washington Wizards 93-86 at Madison Square Garden.

Just one game after watching Carmelo Anthony hang 28 points on the Charlotte Hornets to break the 20,000-point milestone, the Wizards defense entered the contest with one thing in mind: stop Melo at all costs.

That strategy worked to perfection, as D.C. successfully stymied New York’s star, holding him to 18 points on just 8-of-23 shooting on the night. Afterward, Coach Fish credited the pressure applied by the Wiz as the difference in the game.

Washington Wizards v New York Knicks

“Carmelo is trying to do everything he can to help us win right now,” Fish said after the game. “He’s been patient offensively in terms of waiting for his spots, and waiting for his opportunities to get some chances to attack out there. Tonight, their pressure caused us some problems in terms of our execution, and so I think it got frustrating for all of our guys tonight.”

The night started well for the Knicks, who carried the momentum from two straight victories into a solid first quarter where they outscored the Wizards 23-17.

The team wavered a bit midway through the second, allowing the Wizards to tie the game at 31 midway through the frame. However, Pablo Prigioni quickly responded, knocking down a three off a setup from Anthony to regain the lead. Iman Shumpert then buried a three late in the quarter to send New York to the locker room up five.

Washington Wizards v New York Knicks

However, out of the break, the Wizards stormed to a 14-3 run.

“I think they upped their pressure and got more aggressive in the third quarter, and got into our guys even more,” Derek said. “They started that way in the first few minutes, and it kind of caused us some problems but we settled into the first quarter and we were able to get some things done. But in they wanted it more than we did in that third quarter and got control of it.”

With the score tied at 48 early during D.C.’s run, Washington’s defense swarmed Anthony and forced an errant shot that bounced off the rim. Anthony recovered his own rebound, but was met once again by the same host of defenders, and had his shot swatted away by Marcin Gortat. Paul Pierce hustled the ball down court, and dished it out to Nene for an easy layup.

Shortly after recovering the ball with their two-point lead, the Wizards trotted back down the court and found an unguarded Pierce beyond the arc for an open jumper. Shane Larkin sprinted to defend the shot, but fouled the ten-time all-star, leading to a converted four-point play.

Washington Wizards v New York Knicks

The Knicks answered back with four big buckets to tie the game—only to go on a five-and-a-half minute cold streak, during which the Wiz mounted a 14-0 run. By the end of the quarter, the Knicks’ five-point lead had turned into a 12-point deficit.

“We didn’t get stops when we needed to, they shot the ball well in the third quarter and they came out with more (aggression),” said center Amar’e Stoudemire. “They got after it, so we’ve got to find out how to counter the pressure.”

The Knicks bounced back in the fourth and played better basketball. They managed to cut the lead to single digits and were threatening a comeback—all until Pierce connected from deep at the 5:18 mark. New York managed just one field goal from then on out, falling by 16 points.

NEXT UP

Fisher’s team has been quick to rid the bad taste of losses from their mouths, and will look to do so once again when they take on the Detroit Pistons Wednesday Nov. 5 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan.

Larkin said after the game that Fish will have the team prepared for the pressure defense in upcoming games, which gave them trouble in both losses against the Wizards and Chicago Bulls.

“I mean it’s game four (of the season),” Larkin said. “It’s the second time we’ve seen that kind of pressure, so I’m sure the next time we play someone like that we will make the adjustments.”

Tip off for Wednesday night’s game in Detroit is at 7:30 EDT.

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