Apologies for the extremely late recap. It's nearly finals week, and I've got plenty of work to do- a problem that gets worsened by waking up in the mid-afternoon. Last night's Knicks-Hawks matchup wasn't pretty, nor did it end well for our sad little Knickerbockers. This one was close throughout, with Harrington, Lee, and Chandler keeping the Knicks afloat. Jared Jeffries also made an appearance, and looked fantastic off the bench (I know, right? They must've fixed more than his leg!) before sitting out the last few minutes. Atlanta used a balanced attack, and got to the line frequently (15-21) to balance out a dismal attempt at mimicking D'Antoniball (5-26 from downtown). Unfortunately, Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson got their outside shooting working late in the fourth quarter, and a couple of big threes from Bibby got them the win. New York had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but both Duhon and Harrington passed up open attempts in the final 5 seconds. Between that dismal finish and an ugly second half, this one made me more than a little sick. A couple more notes:
- Al Harrington's mouthguard habits are revolting. If it's not in his mouth, it's either stuck in his headband, or dangling from his lower lip. Al Harrington's slimy mouthguard in HD is not for the weak of stomach.
- On the other hand, Harrington's been pretty impressive from the field, and shot 12-25 for 27 points. Considering that he was 3-12 from downtown, that's pretty damn efficient. Meanwhile, who on earth shoots 12 threes in a game?
- Robinson and Jeffries both returned from injury, and both had to take a seat early. Before that, though, each made some nice contributions. Nate got a couple good shots in and played his usual pesky defense, while Jeffries was very active on the boards and played some pretty solid D as well. Save for an ill-advised fallaway jumper or two, JJ was particularly impressive, if not a little exhausted. If he continues to assert himself, it'll be nice to have somebody who can actually block a shot now and then. It's also worth mentioning that the play on which Jeffries took a hard fall and had to leave was a total accident. Duhon threw an alley-oop to Wilson Chandler, and Jared just took off and interecepted the pass, colliding with Wil in mid-air. He's reportedly okay, but was a little freaked out by the whole thing.
- Even with the reinforcements, Duhon didn't get much of a breather. In 43 minutes, he had 13 points (4-12) and 8 assists, but an uncharacteristic 7 turnovers. The guy desperately needs a steady sub, and Anthony Roberson ain't the answer. When Roberson comes in, the Knicks' offense literally comes to a halt. He doesn't have much skill at hitting cutters or penetrating, and all the other guys know it.
Again, sorry for the weak recap. I'm going to try and catch most of the Pistons game tomorrow, but in light of my workload, would anybody be down to recap for me? Let me know in the comments or via email.