Clippers 119, Knicks 115: ‘Just when you thought the Knicks couldn't get any Knicksier’

Honestly, this game was kind of hilarious.

Not in the “Ha-Ha funny” way, but more in the manner of stress-laughter because the only thing that can come to mind is “hahahahahaha of courseeeeee this is happening right now...of course!”

Yes, as P&Ter RealLT said, the Knicks are “Knicksier” than they have ever been. I’d venture to say that this is the Knickiest they’ve ever been, if you’d allow me to create a superlative adjective of my own.

The Knicks, as a team, were moody Wednesday night.

At times, they appeared in complete control. Scoring at will, and making solid stops on defense. Kind of like they did back when they beat Boston what seems like 10 years ago but was actually just a few weeks back.

Other times, they were at the very least trading buckets with the Clippers. Considering the Clippers were without Chris Paul (and LA does not do well without him), this doesn’t seem like much of an accomplishment but this is the Knicks we’re talking about and thus the general connotation of the word accomplishment is warped.

At the end of the game, when they just needed to protect a reasonably sized lead, they completely pooped the bed.

To add insult to injury, Clipper backup and former Knick Jamal Crawford was the main catalyst for LA’s fourth-quarter comeback. That man’s bones are made of elastic bands, I am convinced, and I hope he plays forever because he is fabulous.

Sigh.

I’m not going to dive into the Oakley stuff, because Joe already did that and because this situation kind of just looks like the culmination of a series of really, really crappy events.

We all hate Dolan–everything that he is, everything he has done, and everything he stands for. We were all Charles Oakley tonight.

What I will do, though, is provide an update (not that I don't think y’all already know) because there have been some developments since Joe’s piece dropped. So, here:

Alright, this weird and kind of sad situation did provide some good tweets so I’ll give those to you:

OK, time for notes:

— Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points, had 9 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals. He was great, and he was great for real. Yeah, he had a chance to tie the game at the end, but he can’t make all of those shots. If you’ve read enough of these recaps, you’ll know that I’m no Melo apologist or anything (OK, maybe a little), and I, along with most, am ready to call him out for a bad game. Despite 26 points against the Lakers on Monday, his lack of effort was noticeable and he just generally looked like he wanted to be elsewhere. Tonight, he looked dialed in.

The most recent news from Melo-land was a report saying that Phil’s antics had only strengthened Melo’s desire to be a Knick. P&T’s very own Matt Weiss wrote:

The article goes on to say that Anthony specifically has told some of his teammates that he “refuses to let Jackson run him out of the Knicks.” Hmm.

Was this performance to show Phil how serious he was about this? I don’t know, but I’d very much like to think so. It’s tough to see him get dragged through the dirt like he has, and as much as we all want to see Melo succeed, it’s pretty cool to see him take a stand like this. Overall, today was a good day in Melo-land. A good day.

— KRISTAPS PORZINGIS BACK. 27 PTS. 6 REBOUNDS. 2 ASSISTS.

THIS STUFF:

YUP, BACK. THE BANK SHOT WAS WORKING, WHICH AS I SAID ON MONDAY, IS A GOOD SIGN. OH MAN HE’S SO MUCH FUN TO WATCH. IDC IF WE LOST, I’M PUMPED.

— Derrick Rose, on several occasions, drew the “vintage Rose” tag from Breen on ESPN tonight. I always wondered just why that tag bothered basketball fans so much this season, and I've come to realize that “vintage Rose,” is only really a good thing when he’s the clear-cut, absolute best player on his team.

He was that in 2010-11. He is not that now.

There was a debate here in the comments section of the Bulls game recap back in January about whether or not we have seen D-Rose make a single good pass as a Knick.

He can easily do stuff like this:

But you’ll also see those two consecutive turnovers he had in the third quarter. They came on either routine, or ill-advised passes, and were easily intercepted by the Clippers and lead to layups on the other end. In terms of points, there’s the difference between winning and losing. Not to mention, the Knicks had plenty of momentum at that point.

D-Rose didn’t have an awful game tonight, but it wasn’t ideal either. I think I’m just going to start believing that D-Rose will only ever have a great game if he’s the best player on the floor. Translation: his best ball is squarely in his rearview mirror.

He had 20 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds. He also had 3 turnovers, which seems great compared to Austin Rivers’ 5, but some of those turnovers were costly, as I mentioned.

— Kyle O’Quinn had a nice game too, I guess. 18 points, 6 boards and 2 blocks. He did well and I don’t think anyone could ever say he was the reason the Knicks lost this game. Mad props for that!

***

The bottom line for the Knicks tonight is that they, after losing a super winnable game on Monday, came out playing well against a superior, albeit undermanned, Clipper team and lost. Their starting lineup included the likes of Austin Rivers and Luc Mbah a Moute. Yeah, they should have won this one.

Next game is Friday at home against the Denver Nuggets, who are apparently hold a playoff spot in the West as of right now. Not going to make any predictions on who will start at center — I was wrong twice in a row.