Carmelo Anthony on song as New York Knicks thump Orlando Magic 108 – 86: NBA Recap
The New York Knicks romped past the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, 108 – 86, here at the Madison Square Garden. The Knicks took command before the halftime break and didn’t give the Magic any chance to get back in the game afterwards,
picking up an important victory in the process.
With Jeremy Lin and Amar'e Stoudemire both side lined with injuries, it was up to Carmelo Anthony, who himself had a strained right groin, to lead the New York Knicks past the Orlando Magic.
It was obvious from the start of the game that Anthony was struggling with his movement. He however, still managed to put up a performance befitting his All Star status.
Magic meant business early and opened the scoring with Jameer Nelson making a three pointer. Nelson managed to add on 8 more points till the end of the first quarter helping the Magic take the lead (29-25). Carmelo Anthony on the
other hand had 5 points and 2 assists to his name.
In the second quarter both teams had their share of the lead. This back and forth action only lasted till the 4:52 mark, when the Knicks started a strong run to end the half. During this run Baron Davis managed to score 7 of his
11 points and on top of all that Steve Novak hit a buzzer beater to end the 2nd quarter.
Knicks on the basis of this run held a definitive lead over Orlando at the half way stage (57-41).
The surprising package of the game was Iman Shumpert, who had only been averaging 6.1 points for the last five games. With a lot of star players missing out with injuries, the rookie from Georgia Tech rose to the occasion. Shumpert
had a career high night with 25 points, scoring 10 of those points in the third quarter.
Knicks behind great performances by Anthony and Shumpert led the Orlando by 31 points at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth, Orlando outscored the Knicks by 27-18 but the lead was too much even for the team who had come
into the game as the 4th ranked in points allowed per game.
Knicks eventually won the game a whopping 22 point lead.
Carmelo Anthony had a good night scoring 25 points while only playing 26 minutes of the game. It was very obvious that he was suffering from an injured groin and was playing only on will power.
"It's been a rocky season for us. A lot has been going on, a lot happened, but right now with the coaching change, we've been playing extremely well. We've been really locked in." The All Star said after the game.
The key to winning this game was not scoring but shutting down the best big man in the league Dwight Howard. Dwight came into the game with an average of 14.7 rebounds and 21.1 points per game, but the Knicks managed to hold the
‘Superman’ to an only mediocre night by his standards; just 12 points and 5 rebounds in the entire game.
Knicks play Atlanta next on Friday. With their season plagued with injuries to players, Knicks need to manage their players and their schedules properly in order to be more successful come playoff time.
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