Projected Starters
New York Golden State
PG – Toney Douglas Ishmael Smith
SG – Landry Fields Monta Ellis
SF – Carmelo Anthony Dorell Wright
PF – Amare Stoudemire David Lee
C – Tyson Chandler Andris Biedrins
Scope the opposition: Get your Knicks fix at Knickerblogger.
Preview: Fresh off a victory over the Chicago Bulls, the Golden State Warriors will host the New York Knicks tonight at Oracle Arena. The Knickerbockers are coming off a106-104 opening day victory against the Boston Celtics that went down to the wire.
Carmelo Anthony was a sight to see against Boston, as he put up 37 points, while shooting 10-for-17 from the field. His quickness and footwork helped him blow by Marquis Daniels and Sasha Pavlovic, but his size was also was a huge factor in him muscling his defenders up on the block and earning himself 15 free throw attempts. Complicating matters further, Melo also had it going from the outside, completing four-of-seven 3-point field goals.
Anthony may have performed well under the bright lights, but he also received some help from Amare Stoudemire who not only scored 21 points, but also stretched the defense by hitting four-of-six shots from beyond 16 feet according to Hoopdata.
Consequently, the Warriors should expect the Knicks to feed their twosome early and often. In order for New York’s recipe to be successful though, they will need for their shooters to convert from deep; and Mike D’Antoni teams have never been shy about firing away from 3-point range.
Nonetheless, the Warriors may well send most of their help towards Anthony and dare the Knicks to beat them from downtown.
Defensively, New York must be thrilled with their new acquisition: Tyson Chandler. Against the Celtics, he scored a mere seven points and only got three rebounds. However, his biggest contributions came in his defensive rotations, where he contested shot after shot around the basket without fouling. Indeed, Chandler was responsible for six blocks all on his own.
And yet, for all of the contributions of their new center, the Knicks still surrendered 48 points in the paint and sent the Celtics to the line 31 times. A huge part of that was because Rajon Rondo was very aggressive in trying to get some early offense before New York’s defense could get set. The Celtics point guard flew down the court even after Knicks baskets; which helped him convert eight-of-10 shots directly at the rim and also earn 12 free throw attempts.
Given the fact that the Warriors excel at getting out in transition for easy baskets, they may have to contemplate not only to push the pace after getting defensive stops but also doing as such after made baskets.
This game would have been the perfect contest for Stephen Curry to play in given the playmaking opportunities that would have been available to him in the pick-and-roll but the Dubs will have to instead rely on Monta Ellis on this front.
Also worth noting, as good as Golden State’s offense was against a top notch defense such as the Bulls, the Warriors became predictable and stagnant in the fourth quarter when Curry was forced to miss the closing minutes of the fourth quarter.
Consequently, the Knicks may copy the Bulls ‘blueprint and throw a double team at Ellis with the intent of throwing off the Dubs offense.
Nonetheless, expect a large chunk of the possessions to be decided by the likes of Monta Ellis, David Lee and Dorell Wright with Curry scheduled to miss this contest.
New York game notes: The Knicks will be making their lone appearance at Oracle this season and former Warriors favorite Baron Davis will be sitting this one out.
Golden State game notes: In the smallest of samples in this early season, the Warriors are undefeated at home against the Eastern Conference.
Questions or comments? Feel free to leave them in the comments section or you can contact me by email at [email protected].
Beating da Bulls, Knicks….. I know its early in the season, but thats pretty impressive coming from da DUBs!
Lol “undefeated at home against the east!” The Dubs are also winless at home against the west.
Still undefeated at home against the Eastern Conference!