This game was iced by the second quarter.
The Boston Celtics trounced the New York Knickerbockers 104-59.
REPORTER: What do you think is happening to the team?
Knick player: The ship be sinking.
REPORTER: How far can it sink?
Knick player: Sky’s the limit.
So said Michael Ray Richardson near the end of his career. (Wikipedia) But it could have been said by any current Knick as well.
Normally, I’d make jokes about a blow-out like this. But there was little that was funny about the way the Knicks played tonight.
Call it: Isaiah’s terrible, horrible, no good night.
Another terrible game, in another horrible year, that can produce no good for the Knicks as a team or the architect of it all – Isaiah Thomas.
As Michael Ray said….”The ship be sinking.”
The talented, but misfitting Knick players put on a shameless exhibition tonight against the
surging Celtics. Talk about a difference in mind set.
Quentin Richardson talked a little trash yesterday and the Knicks team played like that for the entire game. Kevin Garnett said that was part of the reason things happened tonight the way they did. Doc put it up as bulletin board material.
No doubt, the Celtics came out strong. Rajon Rondo had a great first quarter, scoring 10 points on 5-7 shooting (2 drives and 3 jumpers), supported by Ray Allen with 6 to get the Celtics off to a flying start 15-2, and 27-16 first quarter.
Was this Isaiah’s last game with the Knicks?
A storied New York franchise that currently epitomizes much of what is wrong with pro basketball put on quite a show..I mean spectacle, this evening.
The Knicks shot just .303 from the floor, .200 from downtown, 11-17 from the free throw line, was out rebounded 51-35, out assisted 27-14, had more turnovers 14-6, and less steals 7-3 than the Celtics.
The Celtics shot .468 from the field, .545 from the three point line, and 18-25 from the free throw line.
Under normal circumstances you would just chalk this game up to a bad night and move on. This franchise has been a combination 3 ring circus and daily soap opera for at least 3 years running. They have, by far, the least wins per dollars spent on salary for 3 years running. A dubious distinction that owner Jim Dolan seems oblivious to. It will be hard to ignor things much longer.
On national televison, they proceeded to buckle under quickly to the Boston Celtics, another storied franchise that is rising once again.
By half time the score was 54-31. The Knicks could only muster 10 points in the 3rd quarter. It ended like with a high school-like, team doubling, blow-out score of 82-41. The rest of the game was a question of franchise records in dominance for the Celtics and futility for the Knicks. Records were almost broken. The Celtics went up by 52 points, 95-43 in the 4th. The Knicks avoided an all time franchise low (since the shot clock arrived in 1954) of 58 points with a desperation 3 pointer at the buzzer by Nate Robinson. The lowest score ever allowed by the Celtics in the shot clock era was in 57 points in 1955. (courtesy of Yahoo Sports)
Doc Rivers even got to rest his three stars for tomorrow’s game against the Heat. The rest will be needed as the Heat almost came back to beat them in the 4th quarter the last time they played. Garnett played only 23 minutes tonight, shooting just 5 times for 8 points, breaking his string of 410 consecutive double digit scoring games. He had 7 rebounds in the first 6 minutes. He finished with 11 boards.
Glen Davis got the most PT of his young career. In 30 minutes, he produced 13 points on 4-6 shooting, 6 rebounds, a block, a steal, and a hustle point when he went to ground to deflect a ball away from a dribbler. James Posey went over the announcers table into the stands trying to keep it in play. That was the kind of hustle that the Celtics displayed tonight and do so on most nights.
Paul Pierce and Ray Allen logged exactly the same minutes (29) and produced 21 points each, though Ray was the more efficient shooter (8-14 vs 6-16).
In a rarity, the Celtics turned the ball over only 6 times, as much a testament to the lax effort of the Knicks as to any great focus by the Celtics, I believe. Still, it is an accomplishment of note.
So what does this all mean?
It is another notch in the gun handle for the Cs. It could be the final shot for the Knicks coach.
Tomorrow’s game against the Heat promises to be more competitive. There is more to learn from those kinds of games than this kind. This one did give the regulars a much needed rest.
They do it all on national TV again, on ESPN, in Miami at 8:00 pm Friday night.
