By JOSH NEWMAN
Special to ZAGSBLOG
NEW YORK — Ask the average NBA fan who is going to the win the title in less than two months and you’re going to get very standard answers with the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls and Oklahoma City Thunder rolling off tongues first.
However, this is a different type of NBA season. This is a 66-game, lockout-shortened season with little rest, lots of back-to-backs and even more nicks and injuries to key pieces on contending teams.
Long story short, there is enough parity right now across the league that maybe just getting into the playoffs gives you a shot at sticking around longer than you should.
In a 118-110 victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday evening, the New York Knicks had you believe that they, despite staring at either the seventh or eighth seed in the Eastern Conference and a first round meeting with either the Bulls or the Heat, can be that team that sticks around longer than it’s welcome.
That’s what a triple-double for Carmelo Anthony (35 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists), four players with at least 20 points, a 72-point first half and shooting 14-for-21 from 3-point range in the first half will do.
It would be fair to get the Celtics’ take on this Knicks team at this point with five regular season games to go. After all, the teams played each other four times this and if you look at it, the Celtics have seen the Knicks in several different states. Christmas Day, a 106-104 Knicks win, was the first game of the season after a short training camp after the lockout.
Feb. 2, a 91-89 Celtics win, was the night before Linsanity commenced as the Knicks were well under .500, and March 4, a 115-111 Celtics win, saw the Knicks at full strength at the time.
So what about this version of the Knicks that drilled the Celtics in the second quarter, led by J.R. Smith’s five treys and 15 points in the period? Can this team plus a healthy Amar’e Stoudemire be dangerous come the postseason? Celtics head coach Doc Rivers wasn’t exactly tossing out lots of praise.
“Anybody can be dangerous when they’re on fire. The Celtics are really dangerous when they’re on fire,” Rivers said in a tone that suggested such an offensive display could have and should have been prevented by his defense. “Everybody is dangerous in the playoffs. I said it all year. Obviously Miami and Chicago are the favorites, but I like us. A lot of teams can win this thing.”
Rivers noted a lot of teams can win it, but no one is putting the Knicks in that category, nor should they. The Knicks are not getting that type of respect, not with their current 32-29 record, not with the fighting and clawing for a postseason berth and certainly not with the need to go through either the Windy City or South Beach to see the second round.
One thing that is clear is the Knicks do scare you a little bit right now, especially Anthony, who has played lights out offensively since Stoudemire went down. It is certainly unreasonable to ask for nearly 60 percent from 3-point range and four players with at least 20 points on any night, let alone a consistent basis, but the Knicks are at least a little scary simply because going off like that is possible for this team.
“They were hitting, they just got hot. Some were open, but I think a lot were contested,” said Paul Pierce, who enjoyed another productive trip to MSG with a game-high 43 points. “I give them credit, they made a lot of shots, especially when they needed to.”
Pierce alludes to the final point. In a shortened season when so many teams are lumped together in the same sentence, hitting shots and getting hot at the right time may lead to crazy things. Assuming the Knicks find their way into the postseason, they will find out whether or not that holds true.
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Photo: AP
