Yesterday was remarkably the one-year anniversary of Carmelo Anthony‘s 62-point explosion against the Charlotte Bobcats.
Since that time, the Bobcats have changed their name back to the Hornets, Tyson Chandler, Iman Shumpert and Raymond Felton (three parts of the starting lineup on that night) have been traded, and the New York Knicks have descended to the depths of the league with a win projection in the range of only 15.
Fifteen!!!!
Yikes. Who knew so much could change in a year’s time. Fast forward to present day and the Knicks found themselves in Charlotte to play the Hornets without the lethal scoring of Melo due to
rest for tanking purposes
knee soreness.
Predictably, the Knicks fell in defeat, ending their somewhat encouraging (if you are a fan that wants your team to win 20 games instead of 15), somewhat discouraging (if you are a fan that believes the easiest way out of this hole is to tank, tank, tank!) three-game win streak.
Management had to put an end to any kind of winning to keep their lottery chances high and that is why Melo sat, Tim Hardaway Jr. was able to hoist up 17 shots and three players on ten day contracts got a chance to see the starting lineup.
Bless your heart Lance Thomas, it’s not your fault. The NBA, where tanking amazing happens.
Turns out that Melo would have almost outscored his WHOLE TEAM a year ago with those 62 points because the Knicks could only put 71 points on the scoreboard in one of the ugliest game of the season thus far. Both teams shot in the low 30’s percentage wise and the game was an overall drag to watch.
Maybe the inexperienced Knicks players were shook up playing in front of Michael Jordan.
I would recommend staying away from the highlights for as long as you possibly can or make watching them the punishment for coming in last in your fantasy football league next season. “Last place gets to watch a Hardaway Jr. lead team try to execute late in the fourth quarter while Derek Fisher watches silently on the sidelines!” Now that, is a punishment.
Are Knicks fans still tuning in to watch Langston Galloway and friends suit up each and every night? Are they secretly hoping that the Knicks lose most of their games for the rest of the season to give them better odds at the top pick even though the team with the best odds in the lottery hasn’t actually won the lottery recently?
Is anyone else upset about what has become of this once playoff roster? Does anybody out there actually miss the days of Mike Woodson??
To all the true Knick die-hards that elected to watch every minute of the game last night, way to go. You deserve a medal of some kind to commemorate your achievement of superior fandom.