Weekend at Jimmie's

What Lil' Dolan's Knicks Were Doing While You Were Watching Levon Helm at the Beacon Theater

Friday / Knicks 97 – 101 Pistons: The Knicks played harder, tougher and smarter (Rip Hamilton was needlessly ejected for arguing) but they just weren’t quite good enough to win this game. This was the third home game in five nights that they lost to a better team because they couldn’t execute in the waning moments. Monday was the Hornets. Wednesday was the Lebronaliers. The Knicks defended tonight with surprising tenacity and moved the ball as if they actually liked one another. Even more shockingly, without Randolph on the floor (injury) they got the ball inside to Curry, who led the team with 23 points. Actually, now that I think about it, Curry’s performance was only the second most shocking thing (after all, last year wasn’t really that long ago). The most unexpected aspect of the game on Friday night was that the Knicks seemed to want it more than the Pistons. They were within 5 or 6 throughout most of the fourth quarter but were able to close within two points with 34 seconds to go. At that point, the entire game hinged on just one play, one defensive stop. If they got the stop then they had the ball and plenty of time to force overtime. If they didn’t get the stop then they had to rush down the floor to score and then they had to begin fouling. The Knicks defended with vigor and did all the right things but Tayshaun Prince was able to get a supremely difficult shot to drop. Ballgame.

Saturday / Knicks 114 – 120 Blazers OT: No Curry, No Randolph, No Crawford, No problem. Nate Robinson scored a lifetime high of 45 points and dragged the Knicks into overtime against the visiting Blazers despite their poor execution and defense late in the game. As has been much reported, Robinson became only the second player listed at 5-9 ever to score 45 points in an NBA game. Four of those points game in the last 18 seconds of regulation and forced the overtime period. However, once the whistle blew on the extra session Brandon Roy outscored the Knicks by himself. Ballgame.

Also Worth Mentioning: David Lee put up a double-double in both games and Levon Helm was awesome.