Clippers 109, Knicks 95

I am writing this midway through the fourth quarter, because that's how this game has gone. The Knicks put up some fight against the Clippers-- the game was in reach, if not in the Knicks' column, for parts of three quarters-- but it never really felt real. It was a weird one. The Knicks committed way more turnovers than usual and couldn't get anyone going offensively-- Carmelo Anthony's soup was frozen solid-- but drew so many odd shooting fouls that they managed to put points on the board. And their defense granted the Clippers anything they wanted in transition one open three after another, almost none of which fell...until the fourth quarter, when the Clippers just blew the thing open from outside.

And that was the game. At least it was a game for a little while, and some individual performances weren't totally disheartening. Melo busted his ass to draw SO many fouls and snaggle SO many rebounds, even if shots would never ever fall. Tyson Chandler managed to put up solid numbers without ever really running anywhere. Andrea Bargnani had a fun li'l stretch of rebounding and blocking in the third quarter. J.R. Smith hit enough garbage time shots to cobble together a decent line, which is good for him. And Jeremy Tyler! Tyler didn't play a lick of defense (maybe one lick), but he did finish a nice pick-and-roll lay-up, drill a face-up elbow jumper, and DISMISS Ryan Hollins with a gorgeous spin move finish. Toure' Murry didn't look so hot. Threw a lot of hospital passes.

But yeah, the Knicks lost. It was an ugly game. They're way worse than the Clippers.

Wait, why is Melo going out there again? He just played the final minute and a half of garbage time for no reason. Is Woodson *trying* to hurt him?

This has been a weird, dumb night.

ON THE OTHER HAND:

KNICKS STILL WIN