New York Knicks Give Fans Coal Christmas Day With Loss To Washington Wizards

Fans of the New York Knicks received coal Thursday for Christmas, as the Knicks were beaten easily by the Washington Wizards. There was little struggle for the Wizards, as they led wire-to-wire and the Knicks never really threatened their lead. It is just another poor performance in a season that has been full of them for the Knicks; the New Year cannot come soon enough. With the loss, the Knicks record falls to 5-26, giving them the most losses in the NBA with a three-game ‘cushion’.

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Player of the Game: Carmelo Anthony

Anthony was essentially a one-man show for the Knicks today, scoring a game-high 34 points. He shot 13-28 from the field, and a strong 8-10 from the foul line. He didn’t add many other stats, grabbing only three rebounds with two assists, but carrying the scoring load in the fashion he did is not easy. Anthony was one of the only bright spots for the Knicks on a day that should be filled with joy and happiness, but instead was doom and gloom for the Knicks. This was the fourth time Anthony scored 30+ points on Christmas Day in his career.

-Hurt Inside

The Knicks were crushed in the interior by the Wizards. The Wizards outrebounded the Knicks 45-36, as they had five different players grab at least five rebounds, led by nine from Marcin Gortat. Amar’e Stoudemire, who made his return after a couple games off for rest, led the way for the Knicks with seven.

The point differential in the paint was also big, as the Wizards scored 50 inside compared to 30 for the Knicks. The Wizards got easy shots around the rim with ease, as the Knicks had to work hard to score, and no one was really able to other than Anthony. The Wizards had six players score double-digits while the Knicks only had three.

-Cole Train Coming

Cole Aldrich has found himself at the end of the Knicks bench more often than not, but has come on as of late and is carving out a role. Today he had a full stat line, scoring 10 points with four rebounds, two assists and one block in only 22 minutes of playing time. He was also the only Knick to have a positive +/- ratio this afternoon. It would not be surprising for Aldrich to find his way into the starting lineup and a bigger role sooner than later.

-Where’s the Christmas Spirit?

Emotions began to boil over in the fourth quarter, as an altercation between Quincy Acy and John Wall arose. After delivering a hard foul to Wall, Acy was on the receiving end of a two-handed shove that he did not take kindly to, kind of throwing a punch at Wall. Check out the video HERE.

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Acy became the second Knick in less than a week to be assessed a flagrant-2 foul and subsequent ejection. Samuel Dalembert, who received the first one, also received a relatively hefty fine.

Wall was dominating the Knicks throughout the afternoon, and Acy was tired of seeing how easy he was doing it. Wall finished the day with 24 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and one steal.

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