It Wasn’t Pretty But It Got the Job Done

You know that saying a win is a win no matter how it looks? Well, that is certainly true in regards to Friday night’s Knicks game. Sure, Melo had 30 points but it took him 24 shots to do so (what else is new). Raymond Felton had a nice game, but the overall performance was mediocre. The final score was 96-88 in a much needed win for the Knicks. This was their first game in March, a March where the Knicks play 18 games and 10 of them are on the road. Not only are they going to play away from home a lot, but they are going to be playing high quality teams. The first obstacle in their gauntlet run is The Miami Heat. The Heat haven’t lost since 1971, and they’ll look to keep that winning streak going. The Knicks have a little 3-game winning streak going as well. The Knicks magically won the first two meetings of the year against the Heat, but the Heat are a different team than the one we saw last time these teams met. The Knicks do have Shumpert and Stoudemire in the lineup opposed to the first two meetings, but this certainly is the toughest game of the year for these Knicks (even if it is at home). What do the Knicks need to do to win this game? Besides pray, they need to play the way they played against Golden State. That might sound silly to some but hear me out. I doubt anyone from the Heat is going to hit 11 of 13 three pointers today, but assume that Lebron and Wade are going to get theirs. If the Knicks can make one stop when it matters most, they may have a chance to win this game. Offensively they’ll need to be firing on all cylinders, and that means leaving Jason Kidd on the bench and trusting Amar’e, Smith, and even Shumpert to provide quality minutes down the stretch. I’m hoping for a thriller today at the Garden. This game is going to carry playoff intensity, and you can expect the Garden to be rocking today. 101-99 Knicks. Book it.