The New York Knicks (31–28) routed the New Orleans Hornets (35–28) on Wednesday night 107–88, with the Carmelo Anthony-Amar’e Stoudemire led starting lineup gelling well and playing solid team basketball.
All the starters with the exception of Ronny Turiaf—who didn’t see much playing time—had double-digit scoring and all of them contributed several assists.
Toney Douglas’s 24-point, 5-assist performance was the highlight of the night.
Douglas was filling in at point guard for veteran Chauncey Billups, who is recovering from a left bruised quadricep that occurred when colliding with the colossal Dwight Howard in the final minutes of Tuesday’s game against the Orlando Magic, which the Knicks lost.
“I’m just going out there and doing my job,” Douglas told NBA TV after the game. “Chauncey has been a great leader, talking to me about staying aggressive and playing my game.”
Douglas shot an impressive 10–13 from the field, including 4–6 from downtown, and matched Stoudemire’s 24 points. Anthony contributed 22 points, and Shawne Williams shot well from the bench with 4 3-pointers and 16 points.
Douglas, Stoudemire, and Anthony were the only Knicks to score in the first quarter with 10, 8, and 9 points, respectively. The Hornets were led in the first quarter by David West with 10 points as the Knicks maintained a narrow lead throughout.
The Knicks lead remained narrow throughout the second quarter, with the half finishing 52–42 to the Knicks as the started to pick up their defensive tenacity.
Then in the beginning of the third quarter, the Knicks grew their largest lead of the night to that point to 13 points off a nice assist from Landry Fields to Anthony, who slashed through the paint for a layup.
The Hornets answered briefly, but the Knicks would come to dominate the third quarter and end on a 20-point lead. The Hornets were able to even the scoring out in the fourth quarter but the damage was done.
Chris Paul had a difficult night quarterbacking the New Orleans offense, and only scored four points for the night in 36 minutes of playing time. The All-Star point guard led the game in assists with 10, but had some bad passes leading to turnovers.
The Hornets were led in scoring by their bench. Jarrett Jack scored 21 points and Quincy Pondexter added 14. West was the only starter to break double-digit scoring, and most of that came in the first quarter.
Wednesday’s win comes after some inconsistent performances by the Knicks since the Anthony-Billups acquisition last week.
The first game with the new lineup was against the Milwaukee Bucks on Feb. 23, with the Knicks getting a 114–108 win. The game, played at Madison Square Garden, couldn’t have been a better way for Anthony and Billups to be welcomed into the franchise.
But two days later, the Knicks had an embarrassing road loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers—who at 11–48 have the worst record in the NBA.
Then, in a complete reversal, Anthony and the Knicks delivered a stunning come-from-behind road win against the star-studded Miami Heat on Monday, but again followed that with a road loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.
The Knicks will be playing the Cavaliers again this Friday, this time at home.
All the starters with the exception of Ronny Turiaf—who didn’t see much playing time—had double-digit scoring and all of them contributed several assists.
Toney Douglas’s 24-point, 5-assist performance was the highlight of the night.
Douglas was filling in at point guard for veteran Chauncey Billups, who is recovering from a left bruised quadricep that occurred when colliding with the colossal Dwight Howard in the final minutes of Tuesday’s game against the Orlando Magic, which the Knicks lost.
“I’m just going out there and doing my job,” Douglas told NBA TV after the game. “Chauncey has been a great leader, talking to me about staying aggressive and playing my game.”
Douglas shot an impressive 10–13 from the field, including 4–6 from downtown, and matched Stoudemire’s 24 points. Anthony contributed 22 points, and Shawne Williams shot well from the bench with 4 3-pointers and 16 points.
Douglas, Stoudemire, and Anthony were the only Knicks to score in the first quarter with 10, 8, and 9 points, respectively. The Hornets were led in the first quarter by David West with 10 points as the Knicks maintained a narrow lead throughout.
The Knicks lead remained narrow throughout the second quarter, with the half finishing 52–42 to the Knicks as the started to pick up their defensive tenacity.
Then in the beginning of the third quarter, the Knicks grew their largest lead of the night to that point to 13 points off a nice assist from Landry Fields to Anthony, who slashed through the paint for a layup.
The Hornets answered briefly, but the Knicks would come to dominate the third quarter and end on a 20-point lead. The Hornets were able to even the scoring out in the fourth quarter but the damage was done.
Chris Paul had a difficult night quarterbacking the New Orleans offense, and only scored four points for the night in 36 minutes of playing time. The All-Star point guard led the game in assists with 10, but had some bad passes leading to turnovers.
The Hornets were led in scoring by their bench. Jarrett Jack scored 21 points and Quincy Pondexter added 14. West was the only starter to break double-digit scoring, and most of that came in the first quarter.
Consistently Inconsistent
Wednesday’s win comes after some inconsistent performances by the Knicks since the Anthony-Billups acquisition last week.
The first game with the new lineup was against the Milwaukee Bucks on Feb. 23, with the Knicks getting a 114–108 win. The game, played at Madison Square Garden, couldn’t have been a better way for Anthony and Billups to be welcomed into the franchise.
But two days later, the Knicks had an embarrassing road loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers—who at 11–48 have the worst record in the NBA.
Then, in a complete reversal, Anthony and the Knicks delivered a stunning come-from-behind road win against the star-studded Miami Heat on Monday, but again followed that with a road loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.
The Knicks will be playing the Cavaliers again this Friday, this time at home.
