RAYMOND FELTON DUNKED and other Knicks-Bobcats Leftovers

The Knicks added a seventh win to their streak last night against the Bobcats, which was cool. Just like the previous game, the Knicks gave us a rowdy, excellent first half, then snoozed through the second half and hoped the Bobcats would just let them be. I wouldn't say it worked, but New York won. A few leftover things, mostly from that first half:

- This is why we're here. Early in the game, Iman Shumpert and Carmelo Anthony trapped Gerald Henderson jarred the ball out of his hands. Raymond Felton pounced on the loosie, sped coast-to-coast and DUNKED. THE BASKETBALL INTO THE HOOP. ON PURPOSE.

I know that's something Ray used to do regularly as a youngster, but it still had me up off my couch headbutting things in my apartment in astonishment. And if you think that was an outlandish reaction, just look at the Knicks bench. And look at the crowd!

- Melo rollin', via Bronx Chica:

- There's no video of this since it didn't amount to much, but the wonderful first quarter ended with Jason Kidd collecting an offensive rebound way out behind the arc and chucking what appeared to be a 25-foot hook shot at the rim with about 3 seconds left only for Melo to very nearly tip it in blind.

- Yesterday was Walt Frazier's 68th birthday. Jill Martin's on-air gift for him was the usual little pail of Snickers bars, which he received with the same "I regret having told someone I like these one time because I don't actually eat candy I only eat boiled roots and bugs and stuff" face he always makes. Mike Breen-- alluding to a previous broadcast in which Clyde said he'd never bought a lottery ticket-- got Clyde a Mega Millions ticket with the numbers 10, 36, 19, 7, 5, 8. (That's Clyde's jersey number and the 36 points, 19 assists, and 7 rebounds he had on May 8th, 1970 to win Game 7 and the NBA Championship over the Lakers. Pretty cool. And you KNOW Clyde's gonna with $35 million. Numbers obey him.

- It feels like Iman Shumpert producing a lot in the first half and Raymond Felton producing a lot in the second is becoming a thing. Shump had another huuuuuge first quarter with a bunch of drive-and-kicks, a couple threes and a drive from the weak-side corner, and some great pressure on Henderson. He was pretty quiet thereafter. Felton had a couple nice drives and hit some threes early, but controlled things a lot more (or at least seemed to) in the second half. Perhaps because Pablo Prigioni sat most of the second half, Felton handled and penetrated a lot more, making some nice passes on the move and finishing at the rim a couple times (no more dunks, though). His righty drive and lay-in off a paralyzing pass-fake was the highlight of the fourth quarter.

- Tina Cervasio did a fun little segment in which MSG showed Melo stopped in the tunnel to pose through a photo through that transparent wall, then Tina tracked down the baby who took the photo and showed it on TV. I can't find any video.

- And in closing, here are some of the drivin', spinnin' highlights from J.R. Smith's 37-point evening, his third consecutive such performance:

So right.

Update: Forgot to mention Clyde and mini-Clyde!