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Carmelo Anthony Leads New York Knicks To Victory At Syracuse Over Philadelphia 76ers

By Kenneth Teape

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Oct 22, 2012; Syracuse, NY, USA; New York Knicks small forward

Carmelo Anthony

(7) scans the court around the defense of Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard

Damien Wilkins

(8) during the third quarter at the Carrier Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

After a lackluster performance Monday night at Madison Square Garden against the Toronto Raptors, the New York Knicks responded with a better performance Tuesday night, picking up an 84-77 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. It was their second win of the preseason, fourth game overall, and was the best they have looked yet. Here are a couple of takeaways from the win Tuesday night for the Knicks.

– Carmelo Anthony Shines In Return To Alma Mater

Anthony was making his return to the Carrier Dome for the second time since leading the Syracuse Orange to a Men’s Basketball Championship 11 years ago. He did not disappoint the fans that showed up to see him, scoring 17 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists in only 27 minutes of action. It was expected Anthony may get a little extra run at his old stomping ground, and that is exactly what happened as Anthony received playing time into the third quarter. He made the most of it putting on a strong performance for his fans.

-Strong Play from Big Men

In the triangle offense, the play of the big men is imperative. They will have the ball in their hands at the top of the key initiating the offense plenty, and will be asked to make the right decision. For at least one night, we saw how beautiful a thing it can be when done correctly.

Samuel Dalembert and Jason Smith both looked strong in the high post with the ball in their hands. They both made numerous precise passes that led to easy lay-ups for their teammates and kept the offense moving. The percentages were still a little low, but this was by far the best the offense has looked in four preseason games.

The Knicks assisted on 22 of 30 made baskets, a great percentage that showed the ball was moving well and they were finding their teammates with ease. Iman Shumpert showed a little of what he is capable of in this type of offense, constantly cutting and finding himself at the rim for easy baskets.

This is an offense that can be utilized with two big men, as the Los Angeles Lakers showed with Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum playing together. That could mean less time for Anthony at the power forward, and more opportunities for the likes of Andrea Bargnani and Amar’e Stoudemire to play both big man spots.

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–J.R. Smith Struggles

Smith’s plus/minus ratio was a team high +13, but you would have had trouble knowing that from watching him play. With the Knicks up by as many as 22 points in the third quarter, Smith entered with the team up 20 but the lead was quickly cut into by the 76ers. Smith had a disastrous couple of possessions, taking some pretty poor shots and committing mindless fouls on the defensive end to get the 76ers back into the game.

Smith has been one of the more vocal players about trying to learn the new offense, calling it more complex than players may have thought. Smith will not have the leash he had with Mike Woodson coaching the team and will have to play well to warrant playing time. He is a unique talent that will find his way onto the court; he just won’t have the same freedom Woodson gave him.

-Rotation Coming Together?

The Knicks do not play again until Monday against the Milwaukee Bucks, meaning there will be plenty of practice time to continue smoothing out the edges of their new schemes. For the third straight game, the starting lineup was Jose Calderon, Shumpert, Anthony, Quincy Acy and Dalembert. Could this be the lineup we see starting games once the regular season starts?

I think the answer will start to become clear starting Monday against the Bucks. The Knicks will have tough days of practice presumably running up to the Bucks game, and by then Derek Fisher should be starting to whittle down his rotation. Tonight we saw him use only 10 players for extended minutes, not giving much run to the younger players like in the previous three games.

Players like Shane Larkin have begun catching the eye of the coaching staff with their play in the preseason, and will make plenty of difficult decisions for Fisher and his coaching staff in the coming days in reference to the rotation.

This next week of practice will be an important one for Fisher and the Knicks. It will be possibly the last time they can go hard in practice and earn playing time as Fisher will be doing his final evaluations leading up to the regular season.

Next: Who Were the Top 25 Athletes in New York Last Year?

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