Streak Hits Three, Stops in Charlotte

By | 2016-10-28T18:03:07-08:00 January 27th, 2015|News|Comments Off on Streak Hits Three, Stops in Charlotte

This past weekend had a lot in store for Derek Fisher. In fact, it was arguably the one of the most hectic weeks for the rookie head coach this season.

After enduring a paper bag hat-inducing losing streak, Fish’s lead horses came back from injury and helped the Knicks rip off the longest win streak of their season.

N.Y. WINS THIRD STRAIGHT New York Knicks v Charlotte Hornets

New York’s season-high third straight victory came Friday night when the healthy Knicks took out the Orlando Magic 113-106 at Madison Square Garden. After the win, Derek liked his team’s tenacity to overcome a late-game deficit and win the kinds of games they’ve been losing all season.

“I thought they were resilient as a unit out there,” Derek said. “Just continued to find ways to stay together on both ends of the floor, and we got some timely stops, which is always key in the fourth quarter. No matter what happened prior in the game, it’s important to get stops in order to win, and they did that tonight.”

Eastern Conference All-Star Carmelo Anthony got things off to a hot start for the Knicks after burying a deep two with a defender in his face to give the Knicks a five-point lead. However, after that bucket, the Magic closed the quarter on a 15-4 run, giving them a 26-20 lead after one.

In the second quarter, the tide turned toward the Knicks. Melo turned in nine points, while Tim Hardaway Jr. and Lance Thomas combined for 13 off the bench to give New York a 51-50 advantage at the break.

Anthony said his team has looked revitalized during their winning streak, and was all smiles for the first time in a while during his postgame interview.

“I think there’s just effort, energy (and) attention to detail,” Melo said after his 25-point, seven-rebound performance. “The guys that’s been helping us and contributing to these games these past couple games, them guys are hungry.”

Charlotte Hornets vs New York Knicks

The guys Melo could have been referring to were a host of Knicks who have come on strong in the past couple of games. Langston Galloway, Jason Smith and Lance Thomas, who all put up 15 points or higher in the contest.

Smith stood out in particular Friday night, after burying his first three triples in a 19-point effort. Down 74-72 in the third, Thomas found the big center parked outside the arc, and Smith put down an unexpected triple to give the Knicks the lead, as well as some momentum going forward.

Late in the fourth quarter, Galloway gave the Garden a case of Deja’ Vu in the waning seconds of the game, when he buried the dagger three pointer to put the Knicks up by 6 with less than a minute remaining.

The rookie finished with 15 points for his third straight game in double figures. Thomas turned in 16 off the bench and Hardaway added 13. After the win, Derek spoke on how much he enjoys seeing his team celebrate in victory.

“I think what’s most gratifying is how much they’re enjoying this, how much different they feel as a group,” D-Fish said of his exuberated team after the game. “I think there’s more confidence and more assuredness in what they’re trying to do out there. Like I said before a game, we’ve mixed in some personalities and some guys into this group that have a core toughness to them, and I think that’s effecting everybody.”

LATE LOSS STINGS

The Knicks were rolling on a season-high winning streak heading into Charlotte Saturday night, but struggled finding the bucket while Melo sat out for recovery purposes on the second night of a back-to-back.

New York Knicks v Charlotte Hornets

With Fish’s lone all-star riding the bench for the night, the team could only generate a minimal amount of offense to stay in the game. The defense, however, had one of their better performances of the night, but couldn’t hold on as the Knicks fell 76-71.

“Sometimes the guys miss shots, sometimes the defense is doing a good job,” Derek said in his postgame presser. “We put the guys out there that have never been in that situation, together at least, so it impacts the way you finish games.”

Galloway came in and put up another solid performance, scoring 11 points and accruing 5 rebounds. Galloway has been a mainstay in Derek’s lineups since his emergence earlier this month, and has been due for at least one monstrous play each game.

Galloway made promise on his big plays early on in the game, when he took a laser pass from Lou Amundson, and slammed the ball down with defenders draped along his back, sending the Charlotte crowd into library mode.

Tim Hardaway Jr. got the start in Melo’s place for the night, and filled in quite nicely with 25 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

New York Knicks v Charlotte Hornets

Hardaway’s big performance was a result of one of his most accurate outside shooting nights of the season, going 5-8 beyond the arc. This was on display in the third, when he took a handoff from Amundson, and buried the trey to put the Knicks up by 7.

Despite Hardaway’s season-best performance, he wasn’t able to convert on a clutch opportunity to tie the game at 74 with the last shot of the game. His missed attempt sailed off the right of the rim, and straight into the hands of an awaiting Hornet to clinch the game.

Hardaway left disappointed in that last scenario, and said the team should be better prepared for important shots like that in the future.

“We have to value that last possession,” Hardaway said.

As Fish also alluded to, the close defeat will end up as a learning experience for the young team, which came just short of closing a win without its top closer in Anthony.

“We put the guys out there that have never been in that situation, together at least,” Fish said. “So it impacts the way you finish games.”

NEXT UP

Fish and the Knicks were scheduled to play Monday night against the Sacramento Kings, but the game was moved to be played March 3 with the impending monster snowstorm coming to town.

The Knicks will instead play Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, when a host of D-Fish’s former teammates will come visit him at the Garden. Tipoff starts at 5 p.m. ET.

RELATED ARTICLES