J.R. Smith and Amare` Stoudemire help the New York Knicks defeat the Charlotte Bobcats 104-84; Bobcats go down the in the history books with the worst winning percentage........
J.R. Smith led all scorers with 22 points and 6 assists, including some highlight plays to help the New York Knicks defeat the team with the worst record in the league 104-84 at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte on Thursday night.
The Bobcats have now officially set the worst winning percentage in history with a win-loss record off 7-59, a highly disappointing record considering the fact that the team is owned by the NBA All time great Michael Jordan. However this team does not have any similarity to Jordan`s prowess on the court.
"Disappointed. We felt we were better than what our record said. We had some injuries and things never seemed to get on track, but obviously 7-59 wasn't we had planned to do this year. It's just disappointing." Gerald Henderson commented after the game.”
Amare’ Stoudemire who had only recently returned from injury hot on the night, shooting the ball 9-15 from the field for his 21 points, which included a ‘poster’ dunk at the 2:33 mark in the third quarter over Tyrus Thomas.
Josh Harrellson managed 18 points and 9 boards while Iman Shumpert added 12 points in the game. Rookie Jerome Jordan also came off the bench to notch up 13 points as well.
Gerald Henderson led the scoring for the Bobcats with 21 points while D.J. Augustin provided a helping hand by 12 points and 7 dimes. Kemba Walker and DJ White came off the bench to rack up 13 and 11 points respectively.
Even though the Bobcats were undersized on the night, they still were able to out-rebound the Knicks 39-36. However, what the Knicks lacked in the rebounding department, they made up for it by their dominance from inside the key, outscoring the Bobcats 50-30 in that aspect.
Even though the score line depicted a dominant picture, however that was not the case, at least in the early goings of the matchup.
In the first quarter, there was not much to separate the two teams as the capacity crowd of 16023 was treated to some end-to-end stuff. The scores remained equal for most part of the period but 3 points from Stoudemire made it 23-20 in Knicks favour after the first twelve minutes.
A similar script was played out in the second quarter as both teams went head to head. There were a total of 5 ties in that frame with no side getting a sizable advantage at any point. At the half way stage, the score was 44-46 in Knicks favour.
New York did manage to put some daylight between them and their opponents and were able to take an 8 point lead at the 6:54 mark. The lead remained around that figure for the next several minutes but courtesy of Stoudemire`s spectacular dunk plus a free throw at the 2:33 mark and a trey from Smith on the next possession, the Knicks took a 10 point lead. Those plays were part of a 10-4 Knicks run which capped the third quarter at 76-63.
New York’s lead never really got below double figures in the final quarter and by the 4:41 mark, the Knicks had achieved their biggest lead of 23, 99-76, on an alley oop dunk by Jordan.
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