Knicks show they’re dynamic force in win over Lakers
LOS ANGELES – Carmelo Anthony simply couldn’t find his touch.
During the second game of a west-coast swing, the New York Knicks star could muster just 13 points on 4 of 16 shooting, and yet, they still found a way to win.
The sort of performance that wasn’t possible a season ago before Derrick Rose and Brandon Jennings became citizens of the Empire State.
For as long as Anthony has been in New York, the Knicks have climbed only as far as he carried them, but this squad just may be different.
Don’t look now, but the Knicks quietly have won six of seven games following a 118-112 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
The guards combined for 44 points – including Jennings’ 19 off the bench – and with team president Phil Jackson present at his old stomping grounds, a franchise that hasn’t qualified for the playoffs under the 11-time champion’s watch is now tied for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference.
“Well, as you can see tonight, different guys got it going at different times,” Anthony said. “Derrick got it going early, Justin (Holiday) came off the bench and got it going. KP (Kristaps Porzingis) got it going late in the first half, early in the second. Brandon got it going.”
Jennings, with his trademark mean mug and unwavering confidence, willed New York to victory, firing off 15 points in the fourth quarter, including three late-game three-pointers.
Rose’s backup didn’t just impress with his shooting. He dazzled with some nifty passes, but none more so than a behind-the-back ball fake dish to a streaking Holiday, part of a 12-0 run that turned the tide.
“I think the guys kind of jump on (his personality),” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said of Jennings, the team’s emotional…
Comments