Somehow, this photo summarizes tonight's game better than I ever could. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

A loss is a loss, but the Knicks hung around tonight in Boston, and even made the Celtics sweat a little down the stretch. The guys actually squandered a bit of an opportunity, as Doc Rivers decided to compound the suspension of Kevin Garnett by benching Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo for much of the first half. Unfortunately, the Knicks' undersized big men groveled at the feet of larger bodies once again. This time it was the brutish Kendrick Perkins and Leon Powe, who had 16 and 14 points respectively, that caused problems for the New York frontcourt. The C's pounded the ball down low and scored easily and efficiently through 3 quarters to gain enough ground to keep the Knicks at bay later on. Some more notes:

- This was a chippy one throughout, and tempers were flaring everywhere. Zach Randolph was frustrated all night, and his aggravation bubbled to the surface in a little face-to-face altercation with Leon Powe. There wasn't so much as a shove, thankfully, and the two were issued double techs. Later, Richardson and Pierce had some words, rekindling a confrontation that's presented a couple times since Q's been a Knick. It's hard to blame the players for being feisty, though, since both coaches had their panties all in a bunch on the sidelines. The refs got an earful from both Doc Rivers and Mike D'Antoni, but Coach Mike was especially bitchy, and got a tech for damn near shanking Mark Lindsay at the end of the third quarter. He was still jawing after the commercial break, and I wouldn't be surprised if Lindsay wakes up in bed with a horse head some time soon.

Mike D'Antoni objects to a call. Anthony Roberson learns his first curse word. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

- The Knicks came out shooting threes and nothing else, as they often do, but tonight the shots didn't really go down in the first quarter, and never picked up. They were 9-30 as a team, which won't hurt our proud lead in the "made and attempted" department, but turns the stomach a bit when you calculate the percentage. (My number-crunching parrot did it for me, and it's 30%. Quoth Polly, "that sucks".)

- There's a difference between passing a lot and ball movement, ya dig? You can stand still and swing the ball all around the perimeter as much as you want, but it's setting screens and hitting cutters that'll get things done in a half-court set.

- I'd rather see Duhon and Lee play the ball and commit a foul than grab their nuts, shut their eyes, and stand still in hopes of a charge.

- The Knicks actually held a lead after the first quarter, which was garnered by being active and forcing turnovers on the defensive end. I'm pretty sure the C's turned the rock over 6 or 7 times in the first 12 minutes. After that, not so much. Boston (the most turnover-prone club in the league, we learned), finished with a relatively light 14 TO's, considering the first quarter damage.

- Wilson Chandler had himself a really nice game on both ends. Save for a spasm of ill-advised threes in the second half, Wil was attacking, taking and making open shots, and letting the game come to him. It's becoming apparent that his best look is a catch, one dribble with the left hand, and then a nice 18 footer from either side of the key. On defense, Chandler got completely abused by Celtic big men, which is hard to criticize since he's out of position. On Pierce, though, he showed some real mettle. Particularly in the fourth quarter, Wilson harassed the indomitable Pierce into a few misses, even physically deterring a doubling Nate Robinson to take his man one-on-one and force a brick. Wilson Chandler got a heart and a pair of balls, and I respect his 7 rebounds and 4 fouls as much as his 23 points. Cut out a few of those threes and he's got one more fine performance.

- That guy in the Bud Light freeze-frame "drinkability" commercial (Not the hipster cabin one, not the chick tailgate one- the other one.) should send 20% of every paycheck to Dave Chappelle.

- Nate Robinson stuffed Kendrick Perkins in the fourth quarter. It was called a foul, but Perk will lose a little sleep over that one.

- Mardy Collins got a relatively heavy 11 minutes in this one, and didn't completely wet the bed. He still seems pretty wild on offense, and even his makes look accidental, but he got a few good looks at Pierce and Tony Allen, and did a fine job.

- Speaking of Collins, around 20 seconds left in the first quarter, I'm pretty sure Kelly Tripucka said he was "shitting the defense". No doubt I misheard that, but can I get a second opinion?

- Collins' minutes undoubtedly sent a message to Jamal Crawford, who was ghost like Swayze in 25 minutes. He was 1-4 for 3 points, played no defense, and turned the ball over a couple times. Crawford knows he's got what it takes to accomplish a lot in D'Antoni's system, but he's gotta use his head and capitalize on his skill set to stay on the floor. Coach has made that clear.

- What's with Malik Rose's pump-faking? Has Anthony Mason been hired as an assistant coach? By the way, we need video of Rose pulling the chair on Leon Powe in the second half, and Powe somehow maintaining his dribble during his awkward descent.

- Dwyane Wade: "G2 is the smart choice for athletes...'cause it is low in calories". That's not funny. That's just a poorly-researched statement of opinion. WHY ARE YOU ALL LAUGHING?

- I tried really hard not to get myself worked up over a sure loss after the Dallas game nearly burst my aorta, but I gotta admit, it got a little tense at the end there. The Knicks cut it to 4 in the last two minutes, but credit Brian Scalabrine with a huge corner three to ice the thing. Dick.

Oddly, this makes me feel much better. (Original AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

That is all. The Knicks have now fallen to 6-5, and the next game's on Friday in Milwaukee. That's gonna be a big one.

(AP Photo)

I don't think I could ever be a sportswriter. Games like this sting pretty badly, and it's tough to be objective in the face of such heartbreak. That said, this was an exciting game, so let's recap the events.

- First of all, I'd like to introduce all of you to the only therapy I know for nights like this. It's simple and a little childish, but I guarantee that 15 minutes of this will make you feel a little bit better.

- The Knicks got off to an astoundingly hot start. If I remember correctly, they had 20 points halfway through the first quarter, and both Crawford and Randolph came out firing and hitting.Crawford fell of dramatically (more on that later), but Z-Bo stayed hot all night. He had a double-double in the first half, and finished with 27 and 18.

- David Lee, Chris Duhon, and Quentin Richardson each get a tip of the hat for their hard work and efficient numbers. Lee got his rebounds and shots around the basket, Duhon picked his shots well and got 12 dimes, and Richardson came alive for a couple big threes and an acrobatic, Kobe-esque dunk in the third quarter.

- Wilson Chandler had a solid 14 points, but didn't so much as inconvenience Dirk Nowitzki on the other end. You can't really get mad, since Wil is 6'8'' and has gone from riding the bench to starting out of position in one summer. The defense on Nowitzki was, in general, token at best. He got mostly single coverage from Chandler and Lee, with occasional visits from nearby guards. It was one of those games, though, when you knew Dirk was gonna shoot, the defender knew Dirk was gonna shoot, and Dirk knew Dirk was gonna shoot, but he still couldn't be stopped. We simply don't have the personnel.

- The Knick defense works best when they're jumping passing lanes, doubling hard, and triggering fast breaks in the other direction. Whether it was tired legs or a lack of effort, this simply wasn't happening. The Mavs only turned it over 9 times, and the Knicks had 3 team steals compared to 11 for Dallas (4 each for Kidd and Terry).

- Posting and Toasting has a rollercoaster relationship with Mr. Jamal Crawford, and tonight was the part of the coaster where your harness comes off and you plummet hundreds of feet to a grisly death. Jamal started very well, and then put up an absolutely ghastly performance on the offense. He was 5-19 from the field, and single-handledly stifled the offense on occasions. Craw would either take step-back fadeaways or awkward runners in the key, both of which got blocked or otherwise altered quite a bit.

- I must say that it's pretty cool to see opposing coaches forced into adjusting to D'Antoni's lineup. Erick Dampier, for instance, started the game, but played only 4 minutes, due to his inability to chase Zach Randolph out on the perimeter. On the other hand, watching Paul Mooney James Singleton drop 12 and 10 off the bench wasn't exactly a treat.

One of these guys had a career night.

- My notes are pretty negative, but it'd be wrong not to mention that the Knicks lead this one most of the way and were clicking on offense throughout. The aforementioned contributions from Duhon, Lee, and Randolph made for lots of fine passing and easy baskets, and the lead grew to double digits in the first half. With under two minutes left in the game, they were up seven, but everything seemed primed for a collapse. Sure enough, the offense caved, the defense cowered, and the Mavs had it tied with under 30 seconds left. The last possession alone took about 4 days off my life. The shot clock was run down, Richardson missed a short hook shot and then rebounded his own miss with 9 seconds remaining. At this point, he faced a fork in the road. He could pull it out and call a timeout or wind the clock down for the last shot...or he could attack. Q took the second fork, and it wasn't a bad shot. His layup rimmed out, though, and after a flurry of failed tips by Randolph and Lee, the Mavs gained possession (only to miss on the other end, but whatever). In overtime, the tired Knicks predictably collapsed and managed only 2 points en route to a double-digit loss. It sucked.

- I support Mike D'Antoni and Donnie Walsh, and I've come to terms with the Marbury situation, but I will say the following: the decision to bench Marbury comes with the surrender of at least a few games like this one. When both teams are tired and the game is tight, teams go to their wily veterans who have the brains and the balls to create one-on-one under the defense's greatest pressure. Nowitzki and Kidd did this for Dallas, and Steph would be that guy for us. He's always been the one to lower his head and bull a path to the basket in crunch time, and there just isn't somebody in this rotation with that ability to overcome a focused fourth quarter defense.

Some other notes:

- Brandon Jacobs and his baby son were courtside, as they often are. In reference to today's win over the Ravens, Al Trautwig asked Jacobs, "what's it like to be tackled by Ray Lewis?", to which Brandon confidently replied, "I don't know. I don't think he tackled me". So Al changed up his game and asked, "then what does it feel like to run by Ray Lewis?", to which we got the instantly classic response, "Oh, that feel good."

- At one point in the second half, Jason Terry drove to the basket and had a surprisingly open lane to the rim. Mike Breen remarked that Terry thought the Knicks "were going to come on him". Either Breen knows something very dark about Terry, or he's kicking himself over that slip of the tongue.

That's all I've got from a real gut punch of a game. In case this recap stirred up the pain within you, let me once more recommend this to soothe your ills. Next game's Tuesday in Boston. Yikes.

Nothing major, but going in to tonight's contest against San Antonio, we've got a couple nagging injuries to mention. First off, Danilo Gallinari's back is acting up again.

The pain level in the Italian Stallion's lower back and leg increased the past few days, causing growing concern among the team's medical staff that new treatment may be needed for the 6-foot-10 forward from Milan, who was selected sixth overall in this year's draft.

The source said a new diagnosis is not expected, but the increased level of pain is a bad sign and could imperil Gallinari's season. Coach Mike D'Antoni took Gallinari out of the rotation after the second game because of ineffective play, but hoped to eventually spot him in.

Sounds like Danilo won't be around on this mini road trip, and that we might not be seeing much of him in the near future. It's a shame, but better to get him healthy than set him way back so early on. Meanwhile, a more active Knick is having some problems of his own. 

David Lee did not practice yesterday and told The Post he has been suffering from a bone spur in his ankle for three weeks. Lee said he will play through the pain and the spur is too small to require surgery.

That might explain some of his troubles around the basket and low rebounding numbers. Lee is expected to play tonight, so it sounds as if it's nothing to worry about for the time being. Doesn't make us any more equipped to handle Tim Duncan, though. Anyway, tipoff's at 8. Your game thread will be up in a couple hours.

(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Now that's something we haven't seen in years. After a troublesome first half, the Knicks regrouped, retooled, and hustled in the third and fourth on their way to a win against a superior Jazz team. Though Utah was without Deron Williams, they moved the ball well and got hot from the field, but the Knicks did things we've haven't seen in years to grab their fourth win. Notes:

- Shooting 11-24 (46%) from downtown is very solid, but I'm more pleased with 24-29 (83%) from the line. The Knicks benefitted from a few home calls, but the free throws were mostly a result of attacking the rim and hustle under the glass. You can get away with shooting only 42% from the field if you hit your threes and free throws.

- The defense, which gave up 29 assists and 51% shooting, didn't necessarily look great on paper, but it was the right kind of play on that end. Guys were scrambling, doubling quickly and decisively, and playing passing lanes hard, particularly in the second half. Knicks like Robinson, Duhon, and Crawford can really shine in a defense that focuses on overplaying for turnovers. Each had multiple steals, and the Knicks forced 20 turnovers overall. Given that we'll be undersized every night, this kind of ballhawking in the backcourt is a great way to go. And it's fun to watch.

- That transition in the second half was fantastic, and that kind of thing is what's making the stark difference between D'Antoni and Isiah apparent. At halftime, Kelly Tripucka explained that "Utah is known for their execution, and right now they're executing the Knicks to death". Despite the contextual bizarrity and inadvertent punniness of that statement, Kelly had a point. Boozer, Brewer, and the rest of the Jazz were running their set offense cleanly and efficiently in the first half. In the second, it was the aforementioned ball denial and lane jumping that threw a wrench in the Utah machine. D'Antoni played his ballhawks and coached the guys to be pesky and nasty on the defensive end. And, shit, they responded! It sounds simple, but when's the last time you saw the Knicks make a wholehearted, effective adjustment at halftime?

- Speaking of that execution, what's up with the lazy passing? The last two games have been filled with telegraph passes and errant throws out of bounds. I guess it's a new offense, but the unforced errors could be cut down.

- Man of the night was Jamal Crawford, who took mostly responsible shots and dropped an efficient 32 points on 10-17 shooting and 5 threes. He was hot from everywhere and made a point of attacking the rim and getting to the free throw line. Don't forget his two steals, either. He's been putting them long arms to use off the ball and denying the ball from his man better than ever.

- David Lee seems to be getting a bad break on everything- tight rims, no-calls...nothing's going his way. But he soldiers through it all. One of these days the basketball gods will be generous and Lee's gonna have a career night. Book it.

- Andrei Kirilenko's black eye makes him about 40% more terrifying.

- Speaking of which, Phil Weber could have played Viggo Mortensen's part in Eastern Promises.

- Chris Duhon had a fantastic night with 16 points, 9 dimes, 5 boards, and 3 steals. He also had the surprise of the night, when he drove left baseline and threw down with two hands. Who knew he could do that? Duhon's gotta get his jumper falling more consistently, but he's been increasingly impressive on both ends of the floor. I'm interested to see how he does against a superstar point guard.

No ladder necessary! (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

- Zach Randolph, keep doing what you do.

In short, the Knicks kept it close, made adjustments at halftime, and punished in the second half to beat a previously undefeated Utah team. You know, like a halfway decent basketball team does. It was a refreshing departure from the last few years, and something I'd love to see again. The Knicks are on a 3-game win streak heading into Tuesday's matchup with San Antonio. 4-2, eh? Eh?

The 3-2 Knicks head home this afternoon for Kids Day at the Garden. What's in store for the rugrats? Well, while Mike D'Antoni and his fun-loving Knicks look to frolic and gleefully launch threes, Jerry Sloan's mean, old Jazz would be happiest if the final score was 40-32. Jazz. Boo.

Utah should be without Deron Williams, but its their frontcourt that poses a major problem. Carlos Boozer is an All-Star talent with potent post moves and a Duke education, so, like, he's probably roofied the refs studied a lot of tape to prepare for this one. Meanwhile, Mehmet Okur is a bigtime inside-outside threat who, at 15'2'', is taller than David Lee and Zach Randolph combined. Look out for those matchups, and don't underestimate Ronnie Price's contributions in the backcourt.

Can the Knicks run against the stalwart Jazz defense, or will grump old Sloan give the kids something to yawn about? Tipoff's at 3. Get them W's.

Also, check out the venerable SLC Dunk for the best Utah coverage of today's game.

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Good morning afternoon, friends. Sorry this took so long. It's not easy to post recaps on a Friday night when you're in college (it is when you're sick and rarely leave bed, but leave me alone). Last night's game was a glimpse into D'Antoniball at its sweetest. Both teams caught the run-and-gun bug (note: don't refer to that as simply "The Bug".) and played a fast-paced, crisp game with leads growing and shrinking faster than you could feel feelings about them. I'll get some complaints out of the way, and then give you a recap of some promising themes and individual performances.

- The Knicks shot a ghastly 9-19 (47%) from the free throw line. That can't happen, and would've been the number to point out if they'd lost.

- Though the Wiz don't really boast what you'd call a powerful frontcourt without Brendan Haywood, Etan Thomas, Andray Blatche, and Javale McGee (more on this guy later) caused plenty of problems. The Knicks were outrebounded 50-36, and while I can't find the points in the paint stats, they got a bunch. I know this.

Moving on, let's take a look at how some individual Knicks fared:

Chris Duhon- Chris had the sort of game we expected from him going into the season, and looked pretty solid. He had a quiet but meaningful 6, 12, and 7 in 36 minutes, and hit a huge three to get the Knicks back ahead when they briefly fell behind in the fourth quarter. I'd like to see Chris attack the rim a little more and hit cutters more consistently (Try alley-ooping David Lee. It'll work. Can't say the same for Randolph.), but it's hard to argue with 12 assists and 0 turnovers from your starting point guard. Hats off to Chris.

Wilson Chandler- Wil got the start tonight, and I was sure this would be the night we learned his limitations and remembered that he's young and better on the bench. I was very pleasantly surprised. Added to the lineup to match the more perimeter-oriented Antawn Jamison, Chandler didn't disappoint. Jamison had 24 points, but shot more threes (2-7) than he'd probably like to, and looked frustrated and out of rhythm most of the night. Wilson deserves credit, also, for being the Knick with the quickest response time on help defense. Meanwhile, he continued his offensive renaissance with 17 points on 8-12 shooting. More hats off to Wilson.

Zach Randolph- At what point do I say I was wrong for wanting to trade Z-Bo for Darko Milicic this summer? Probably not after 5 games, but what the hell. Zach's shining in the D'Antoni offense, and was an inside-outside threat last night. He'd bull through the paint for hook shots and layups, and then step outside for smooth 18 to 20-foot jumpers. There will always be a few possessions where everybody stands and watches Randolph shoot a contested jumper, but he's working more and more within the flow of the offense and looking impressive while he does it. Zach also skyed- yes skyed- for a few rebounds, and pulled down 13 in total. I'm running out of hats.

Jamal Crawford- Jamal Crawford is alternately so exciting I could poop and so aggravating I could...well...poop. I guess that's more of my problem than it is his. The point, though, is that Jamal's fourth quarter performances are like a roller coaster, if roller coasters shot you into the air from 3 steps behind the three-point line, contested, early in the shot clock at the end of a close game. Jamal followed his fourth quarter shenanigans, which included the aforementioned 28-foot brick and a really poor attempt on a fast break, with a brilliant drive to the rim and a long and-one, so I can't stay mad at him. He also finished with 23 points, so nice job, Jamal. The hat's staying on, but nice job.

David Lee- If poor David Lee has to box out 7-footers every night, his rebounding numbers are going to go way down. Props to him, though, for keeping his head up and dropping an efficient 13 points despite only snaggling 1 rebound. Word has it Dave was put on an intravenous supply of rebounds after the game. You know, to keep him nourished.

Anthony Roberson- Roberson can shoot, but probably shouldn't shoot quite so much. More importantly, though, he can play some pesky-ass defense, and will likely be getting more minutes.

Nate Robinson- Nate was generally under control, hit 8 of his 15 field goal attempts, and dropped 17 points to go with 3 steals on the other end. He's the embodiment of the D'Antoni system, and the game very noticeably changes when he's on the floor.

Quentin Richardson- Since I've mentioned everybody else, keep doing what you do, Q. Richardson hit a couple threes and did as noble a job hanging with Caron Butler as anybody possibly can. That guy's really good.

Mardy Collins- Oh hey! I forgot! Mardy got 10 minutes of his own and, well, he didn't break anything and hit his only field goal attempt. He also played some nice defense on one play, or at least that's what Gus Johnson said. Hats off to Mardy!

Some other notes:

- Javale McGee is immensely entertaining, both in the basketball sense and the schadenfreude sense. J-Mac (too soon?) threw down a couple monstrous alley-oops and swatted a couple shots with his 9'8'' wingspan. Then again, he also completely shanked two alley-oops and scored at least 4 points for the Knicks by goaltending shots. You know how when giraffes are young they're still getting used to those long limbs and they trip all over themselves and look generally awkward? No? Oh. Nevermind.

- Holy crap, I love Caron Butler.

- Holy crap, the Wiz miss Gilbert Arenas. Their offense sometimes made me say "god DAMN that's ugly offense." And I watch the Knicks every night!

- Kelly Tripucka provided the color in Walt Frazier's absence, and did a pretty nice job. I have very little recollection of what he said, which means he wasn't irritating, which mean's he was better than 75% of color commentators.

- The Wiz had one of those "Kiss Cam" things going between quarters, and they tried to set up Mardy Collins and Anthony Roberson. That's soooo awkward, cause like, they just broke up.

In short, this was an enthralling win, and it put the Knicks above .500 after three or more games for the first time since January of 2005 (thanks Mase). The Wiz are a sorry team without their injured star, but the Knicks won this one on their own accord, with dedication to pushing the ball, and shot selection that was bold but not ridiculous. The next game is Sunday at 3 p.m. against the Jazz, which is gonna be a challenge. For the Knicks and for me. Who wakes up before 3 on a Sunday?

Good evening, friends. The Knicks are in Washington D.C. this evening to take on the Wizards. Two changes to tonight's game experience: Wilson Chandler will sub in for David Lee at the starting power forward spot. Lee will obviously still get minutes at the 4 and 5, but D'Antoni sees Chandler as a better match-up for Knick killer Antawn Jamison. Your second change is Kelly Tripucka subbing in for Clyde as our color commentator for the evening. Should be exciting...

For the Wiz perspective, make sure you check out one of the best blogs in the game, Bullets Forever. Don't say anything about the smell over there. They try their best.

Get them W's.

The Warriors' Al Harrington wants out, and you've surely heard some rumors/wishes/wishful rumors that Harrington might end up in New York. I cast these aside for a little while, but now...

Harrington's contract matches the salary of Eddy Curry, who fell out of Mike D'Antoni's rotation even before suffering a knee injury. He is expected to be sidelined for two weeks.

The Knicks are willing to trade Curry, but the Warriors don't appear to have much interest in the former Bulls center. One other possibility would be for the Knicks to trade Malik Rose and David Lee to Golden State for Harrington. Otherwise, Walsh will have to find a third party.

One such team could be the San Antonio Spurs, who have a history of making trades with the Knicks and desperately need additional scoring.

I get the logic. D'Antoniball is running and shooting, and Harrington succeeded in a Golden State offense that was built upon much running and shooting aplenty. Fair enough. That said, what else do we know about this season's Knicks? Well, they're a trifle short (a starting post package consisting of of two 6'9''ers...) and rather unintimidating on defense (...with two blocks between them so far this season). So, I must ask, what's the need for a 6'9'' forward with a penchant for overly gracious defense? (0.2 BPG for his career). Don't even get me started about giving up Lee, who is essentially Al Harrington but with rebounding instincts, undying devotion to his team, and hair.

If we're shopping why not snatch someone who's tall and can block a shot, and may very well eat less payroll than Harrington? Why not Chong Williams? Why not Treebeard, dammit?

This rumor stinks like Isiah Thomas' dirty laundry, and I hope it's nothing more than passing fancy on the part of the media. The Knicks have needs, and Al Harrington most certainly fits zero of these needs. Am I missing the point? Speak up in the comments.

Happy Wednesday, friendsdays. Hope everyone voted yesterday and didn't blow a blood vessel over the results (in delight or despair). I've got some heavy flu-like symptoms, but let's soldier through a few links and topics of the day.

- Anybody else tired of hearing about Stephon Marbury? Quickly, the most recent news is that we're gonna let him ride the bench in a suit for the rest of the year, unless the NBPA can help organize a solution. Either way, I don't expect we'll see Marbury again. Unless the entire backcourt gets decimated by injury and we're forced to play him. That'd be awkward.

- Via The Knicks Blog, a great read on the weaknesses of Eddy Curry and how a coach might cover them. The best, I think:

For Curry to be integrated into a system, his deficiencies need to be masked. The most obvious way to do this is by having a player alongside Curry who can rebound, block shots, and take a tough defensive assignment. These players aren't everywhere, but they do exist. The Bulls had Tyson Chandler, who's since flowered as a top rebounder with the Hornets. An aging Antonio Davis, while no longer an All-Star, also provided help defensively, and was a good presence to have around the Bulls' young players.

Having clearly defined roles in the post, with the power forward being the enforcer and Curry being encouraged to use his skills on offense, makes Curry less of a liability. When a talented big man is willing to defer to Curry in scoring situations and play help defense, Curry can focus on getting his twenty points and doing whatever he can elsewhere.

I think that's quite accurate and well-put. In fact, to a lesser degree, I'd say the same goes for Zach Randolph and David Lee. While Z-Bo and D-Lee excel in different aspects of rebounding and offense, both seriously need some defensive help. This is why I've been begging for some type of defensive big man in the past.

- Speaking of which, the very same Knicks Blog shares (and better articulates) my overwhelming desire to bring Sean "Chong" Williams to New York. I wanted him in last year's draft, I wanted him over the summer, and I want him more than ever after watching the likes of Samuel Dalembert and Andrew Bogut put up dominating lines on our overly gracious frontcourt.

- Tonight's game against Charlotte is perhaps the most important game in the history of Posting and Toasting. If you've been around a while, you probably know why, but we'll get into it later, in the game thread. Sit tight and get pumped.

Dassit. Peace. 

(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

The Knicks were surprisingly impressive in their first game of the season. As for their second run...not so much. The Sixers were just too big, too active, and too hot from the field for New York to even have a shot in this one. It's Halloween and I wanna go drown my sorrows in candy corn while dressed as a hippo...so let's recap quickly.

- On Wednesday we saw, at least for part of the game, New York D'Antoniball at it's most potent. Tonight was an example of what happens when a team with a collective green light to shoot goes collectively cold from every range. The Knicks shot 33% from the field. Thirty-three percent! And it wasn't always good defense. It was just an epidemic of chucking, instead of attacking the basket when things weren't clicking.

- I was arguing at lunch today that the one player I'd like on the Knicks is Sean Williams. Tonight was a perfect example of why Chong would be a valuable asset. With Curry beyond repair, Jerome James more or less retired, and Randolph Morris elsewhere, the Knicks are without a center. This means that, even for a team that's been without shot-blocking, the defensive intimidation is dismal. Rebounding, too, suffers quite a bit without a single 7-footer to be seen. The Knicks got swatted 7 times tonight (compared to zero for us). The rebounding deficit was 61-43. I'd be get mad, but how is a squad with nobody over 6'9'' (besides Gallinari, but, you know...) supposed to stop Elton Brand and Sam Dalembert. This is going to continue to be a problem until changes are made.

- Stephon Marbury will not be playing any time soon, and I think D'Antoni defended that decision pretty well. Or at least I thought that before the game. His point was that Marbury doesn't factor into the Knicks' future plans, so he'd rather let Collins, Gallinari, and friends get some burn instead. That makes it sense, but it does suck to watch Collins airball threes while Marbury sits out in a black suit with leather panels. I think he was Zorro for Halloween.

- Speaking of which, we've now got a statistic called the Mardy Collins Assist (MCA). I've been meaning to give a label to this phenomenon for years, and I've finally got my namesake. Mardy twice airballed jumpers directly into a rebounder's hands, thus providing them with an easy, albeit unexpected, look at the basket. Long live the MCA.

- Chris Duhon has been underwhelming. He's still getting used to his teammates and the offense, but he's having way too much trouble finishing around the rim.

- David Lee looks incredibly frustrated. Maybe it's the fact that his jumpers aren't falling. Maybe it's being repeatedly ignored on the pick-and-roll. Maybe it's being stuck boxing out trees like Sam Dalembert. I can't say I blame him. Keep your head up, Dave.

- Danilo Gallinari got 8 garbage minutes, and once again looked terrified. He did get his first points at the line, but it's gonna take many more toe-dips into the forbidding NBA waters before he can contribute with any regularity. Gus Johnson: "He's a young kid trying to find his grown man legs". A little homoerotic, but Danilo has really got a ways to go.

- Tonight's meaningful numbers: Richardson (3-8), Lee (5-13), Randolph (5-19), Crawford (5-12), Duhon (1-8), Colllins (3-7), Robinson (4-14), Chandler (5-13). Rose and Gallinari both missed their only attempts. The only Knick to hit half of his shots was Anthony Roberson. That generally doesn't bode well for a professional basketball team.

Anyway, it was a really aggravating loss, and it hurts to see things fall apart that badly, but these things happen. It's just one game. Everyone have a fun, safe Halloween, and remember not to eat candy that isn't wrapped. Your neighbors may have poisoned it! Peace.