Melo Says Assists Don’t Matter As Long As Knicks Win

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GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Carmelo Anthony says assists don’t matter.

Well, not exactly.

But two days after he went for 36 points and just one assist in the Knicks 85-78 win over the Celtics in Game 1, Melo was asked by a reporter, “When you score 36 and your team wins, why do people care how many assists you have?”

Anthony’s response?

“It don’t matter,” he said. “I mean, it really don’t matter to me. I know what type of player that I am, I know that I share the ball, we share the ball as a team. Sometimes me sharing the ball, I don’t always get the assists.

“It is what it is. I really don’t pay attention to it.”

J.R. Smith Wins Sixth Man of the Year Award (UPDATED)

GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Back in October, when the season began, J.R. Smith said he was “disappointed” that he wasn’t going to start for the Knicks.

“I would prefer to start. I would rather be a starter,” he said then.

“My goal was to come in here and be a starter, and play with those other four guys on the floor. It is frustrating after a while that people see me as a sixth man, sixth man, sixth man, when you believe you’re a starter. But at the same time, you have to understand this is a team game and you have to put individual goals aside.”

Six months later, the Lakewood, N.J. native and former St. Benedict’s Prep star, has capitalized on his play off the bench this season by winning the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. 

Game 1 Stats Bode Well for Knicks, Nets

Winning Game 1 has put both the Knicks and the Nets in good position to win their first-round series, history tells us.

Since the first round was expanded to a best-of-seven format in 2003, the team that won Game 1 went on to win 61 of 80 series (76 percent), according to the Elias Sports Bureau via ESPN.com.

Teams that won Game 1 at home won 51 of 58 first-round series (88 percent) and teams that won Game 1 on the road won 10 of 22 series (45 percent).