There was a decided difference in the Knicks game Saturday compared to mos♒t of those in recent seasons — beyond the f☂act the Knicks won.
In the fourth quarter, the Knicks had options, not just Carmelo Anthony. Oh, when matters in the eventual 111-104 home-opening victory 🏅over Memph✃is got tight, Anthony delivered perhaps the biggest score of the game. After Memphis got within two, Anthony conv🅷erted a three-point play with 7:34 left.
But that was one of only two official shots for๊ Anthony in the fourth quarter. He took seven free throws, but two shots in the fourth quarter is different.
“It’s Game 2 of an 82-game season. The focus was on other ꧅guys,” saidౠ Anthony, stressing the efforts of Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick Rose. “When it came to me, it came to me. I wasn’t going to go out and try to force the issue because I didn’t have the touches that I normally get. Every game is going to be different.”
Anthony said he welcomes the added options. Sure beats the past, when a lot 🦄of times it was: option one, Anthony up top; option two, Anthony inside; option three, Anthony left, etc.
“You don’t see me complaining about it. You didn’t see me out there making a face. Something that I embrace. I look forward to just being out there with guys who can control the game and make plays, and when it’s my time, it’s my time🎶,” said Anthony, who finished with 20 points on 15 shots, five below his average as a Knick. “We know that the ball doesn’🃏t have to be in my hand every single time down the court for us to make things happen. There will come a time where that has to happen, but right now, we’re just trying to get comfortable with one another and play off of each other.”
Getting a feel for one another is a big early topic among the Knicks, and a lot was made of the few practices the team crammed in after the season-opening lossꦿ in Cleveland on Tuesday. Those sessions were credited after the win over Memphis.
“We looked like we knew what we were doing more often,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “Because we were able to have a couple of practices with Derrick. We’ll continue to get better and better as the season goes on. It’s 🙈the familiarity that the guys have with each other, knowing when one guy is hot. They are veteran guys who I liked later on in the game. They wanted to go back to one play because they saw different options and different things that can happen. That’s where veteran guys come into play.”
Rose insisted🧸 those few practices really made ꧃a difference.
“I think so,” said Rose, who did not have a turnover in 32 minutes after committing four in the opener. “Every day that we have to actually get better, that’s what we try to do. We have a veteran team, we’ve got some young guys, but you’ve got so🎃me guys have been in playoff battles before and I feel like we’re built for this. Certain guys, we have a certain confidence level where it really doesꦫn’t matter.”
Porzingis scored 21 points Saturday, his first 20-point effort this season. He had 14 such games as a rookie, getting his first in his 12th game. … Of the first 10 Knicks opponents, seven were in the playoffs last season. Throw out the Nets (a minus-40), and the opponents were a combined 86 games over .500. The only other team among the first 10 foes to have a losing record last season is Utah (two under), while Houston was a .500 team.