Knicks 107, Sixers 97: "This is fun garbage ball."

This game was just complete nonsense. Philadelphia is already awful, and now they're going through a bevy of changes. New management and coaching, along with the (re)introduction of Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall.

Pringles wasn't in Philadelphia tonight. Hopefully when this team's offense doesn't instantly turn around, he is given as much rope as Brett Brown. They are two quality coaches that haven't always gotten a completely fair shake.

Speaking of shake. This game was so shaky on both ends that the Knicks sat their starters the entire fourth quarter. It was almost as if New York was one of those good teams I've heard so much about.

- The Knicks jammed the ball into the low block very early in their possessions tonight. Arron Afflalo and Carmelo Anthony both leapt out in transition and wound up with great position. Pair that with loads of time on the shot clock and you get the flame on. This game plan often split open some juicy mismatches. Clearly a tactic to amp up the pace. Rather than having the guard cut into the strong-side corner, they would trail into the Triangle. Simple enough, but the Knicks will have to make a real mental adjustment to keep that going on a nightly basis. It would be a welcome change if you ask me.

- Afflalo led the Knicks in scoring again with 22. He continues to post and toast smaller defenders. He also gets a lot of space off of pin downs for clean mid-range pull ups. Obviously that's the least effective shot in the game, but at least he does it off the catch. The confidence which comes with sinking a few closer looks allow him to feel good a few steps further out, where he isn't exactly wonderful. Arron's effort and aggression are so important to the Knicks' success because it allows Carmelo to feel more comfortable as a facilitator.

- Melo shot poorly, but got to the line a bunch in the first half, shooting 8-9 from the charity stripe. Handful of boards and assists, couple steals. Nice game and tons of rest for the big cat. Rockin' good times.

- Jahlil Okafor bruised and bashed his way into the paint. Scoring over, around and out of the reach of pretty much every Knick. He maybe could have used some help, though.

- Some extra dynamism in the Philly backcourt was exciting to see even though they couldn't right the ship. Tony Wroten steamed to the hoop with relative ease, although he lacked coordination. Kendall Marshall was able to pull up to the dock a little more proficiently. Then, suddenly, the Isaiah Caanan's of the world looked the part of dangerous cutters. Tug those guys a little further down the depth chart and you're pumping out some pepper pots.

- 53-35 was my favorite reciprocal score of the night. Largest lead was thirty.

- Lance Thomas and Langston Galloway kept the bench unit humming. Just good hard work from these guys. Lance managed to do something other than score and Langston was as sturdy as ever. Two extremely necessary players contributed exactly how you need them. Collectively shot 7/11 for 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Cut out the turnovers and they were perfect role players.

- Derrick Williams shot 7-11 for 17 points. Pre-season Derrick is officially here. Excellent job pushing the ball and menacing the paint.

- Positive Knicks chants in Philly included: "Por-zing-is", "Air-ball" (Covington/Caanan) and "Let's go Knicks".

- Kristaps Porzingis didn't really accomplish too much. He did manage to block Tony Wroten pretty embarrassingly a couple times. One day he's gonna be impossible to deal with. Until then, he can be bullied and he certainly was tonight. Nerlens Noel hopped all around and was hyper aggressive. Okafor pummeled and subsumed him. Not a bad game specifically. Just didn't get much done against a team he should already be able to roast every single time he sees them. Hopefully The Flamingo doesn't leave town without a few wheelbarrows of pork rolls.

- Al Trautwig had to sub in for Bill Pidto's six-hundred and sixty-six seconds of shit-slime at the half. Once he finished the worst segment in basketball, he properly trashed it for being too long, and lauded the next segment which he promised would be short. The next segment was so short, in fact, that Bill Pidto towered over it.

This game was a huge can full of fun garbage ball, as Carmelapplestapz Godzingodthony said so eloquently in the game thread. There were some absolutely inane sequences tonight.

If you're going to spend the evening slip-sliding all over the court alongside a crappy club, you might as well come out with a W.

The Knicks return home Saturday to face the Bulls, who are better than the Sixers, because duh.