NEW YORK — Dream Week for the Knicks began with a narrow victory over Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets and ended with a blowout loss to LeBron James and the Heat.
What it revealed more than anything is that the Knicks need ‘Melo if they are ever to compete in the East with LeBron and Company and a Boston team featuring four future Hall of Famers.
In his first New York appearance since spurning the Knicks to take his talents to South Beach, King James quieted a frenzied Madison Square Garden crowd by taking over in the third quarter en route to a 32-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist performance in a 113-91 victory.
“There are certain buildings in this league that you just thrive on and you’re excited about,” said James, who’s averaged 30.5 points in 12 Garden appearances, second all-time to Michael Jordan’s 31.8 average in 31 Garden tilts.
“And this being the Mecca of basketball, as a kid you always envision not only playing in the NBA, but also having a chance to play in Madison Square Garden.”
While LeBron chose South Beach over playing 41 home games a season at the Mecca, all indications are that Carmelo, a Brooklyn guy with a Brooklyn-born wife, wants to call New York home.
He’s not afraid of the spotlight, either. Anthony’s averaged 30.4 points in eight Garden outings, trailing only Jordan and James.
This week proved that the Knicks need to bring ‘Melo to New York– whatever it takes.
If it takes acquiring a first-round pick and packaging that with Eddy Curry’s expiring contract and some combination of the young core of Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Landry Fields, well, then Donnie Walsh has to make it happen.
What the Heat and the Celtics have proven is that you need multiple superstars to compete in this league.
The NBA is increasingly a league of haves and have nots.
The Celtics have won 12 straight and the Heat, winners of 11 in a row, are looking more and more like a real threat for an NBA crown.
Their Big Three of James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade combined for 84 points and thrived in the spotlight of New York.
Asked about the Garden chants of “Overrated” directed his way in the first half, Bosh, who finished with 26 points and seven boards, said, “I loved it. It was a nice try.”
Asked about the performance of James, he said, “He’s an awesome player. I’m glad I’m playing with him.”
On a night when Amar’e Stoudemire looked average in scoring 24 points on 11 of 28 shooting and Raymond Felton appeared pedestrian in posting eight points on 3 of 12 shooting and 10 assists, only Gallinari stood out for the Knicks.
Gallo scored 21 of his team-best 25 points in the first half, before going quiet in the second. Chandler scored 17 points and grabbed 10 boards and got the crowd riled up with a nice transition dunk in the first half, when the game was still competitive.
The Knicks bench once again provided virtually no productivity whatsoever.
The non-starters managed just 12 total points, eight of them from Toney Douglas.
Shawne Williams, who just a short while ago seemed like instant offense off the bench, went scoreless for the fourth time in five games.
Mike D’Antoni asked Felton and Gallo to play more than 40 minutes, while Stoudemire and Chandler played nearly 38 apiece. Fields, a rookie, played nearly 34 minutes.
It’s only mid-December.
At this rate, the Knicks will be lucky if something — hopefully not his surgically repaired knee — doesn’t break on Stoudemire before too long.
“I’ve gotta figure out something,” D’Antoni said of his bench’s poor productivity. “I’ve gotta take some minutes off my guys. That’s something that we’ll have to figure out as we go forward.”
It seems more likely that the Knicks might add a backup point guard like a Sebastian Telfair in the short term, but the long-term answer is Carmelo Anthony.
Sure, the Knicks can compete for the sixth, seventh or eighth seed as presently constituted.
But what then?
A first-round loss to the Celtics or Heat or Orlando Magic, who are looking to add Gilbert Arenas, according to a Yahoo! Sports report.
That’s not what Spike Lee, Tracy Morgan, John McEnroe and the rest of the Garden faithful want.
No, they want the Garden buzzing again come playoff time. They want a realistic shot at a title.
Blowing up the current team by trading Gallinari, Chandler and/or Fields has its risks, sure.
But isn’t the greater risk not making a bold move?
If they can get Anthony, they have to do it.
Walsh told me earlier this week he can get first-round pick pretty much anytime he wanted.
“Oh yeah, I think I could if I had to, yeah,” he said.
He never mentioned Anthony by name but clearly the Knicks would have a better shot at this year’s big prize by adding a first-round pick.
Across the river, the Nets made a bold move to trade Terrence Williams and land two more first-round picks over the next two years, giving them five total during that span.
In the arms race that is the NBA, the Knicks must answer that challenge and they must do everything they can to go out and get Anthony.
“I think they [the Knicks] have a huge upside for this season,” Bosh said. “They’re a dangerous team.”
But as Dream Week proved, they can only become more dangerous, and a real threat to the Heat and the Celtics, by adding another superstar.
