New York Knicks: Frustrated, Ejected in Loss to Boston Celtics

The referees issued six technical fouls, and two New York Knicks players left the game early on Friday. What went wrong to set the tone?

When Kristaps Porzingis goes full-blown Street Fighter and uppercuts a basketball for a technical foul, it’s probably a rough game for the New York Knicks.

As a team, the Knickerbockers drew six technical fouls. Referee Tony Brothers tossed forward Carmelo Anthony midway through the second quarter for bad language:

Point guard Brandon Jennings earned his ejection with the game well out of hand in the fourth quarter.

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In an overall frustrating night, the Knicks completely fell apart in the second half after brief flashes from their bench.

As expected, New York couldn’t keep pace on the scoreboard without Anthony on the floor. With some aggressive play on the defensive end and point guard Isaiah Thomas’ 29 points, the Boston Celtics cruised to a 115-87 home victory.

Carmelo Anthony’s Ejection

Anthony took objection to a foul call that turned into an ongoing tongue-lashing directed toward Brothers. As shown above, the referee didn’t take kindly to the language. However, Anthony’s wife Alani “Lala” Anthony posted a tweet that suggested a personal rift:

Fans also created a petition to fire the NBA referee or ban him from officiating Knicks games. Someone took matters a step further via Wikipedia:

There’s a sentiment floating around that Anthony doesn’t receive favorable calls in most cases. Due to Friday night’s fiasco with Brothers, the chirping that focuses on the referees’ perceived dislike for Anthony will continue.

However, the Knicks forward must realize when to pick his battles. First and foremost, his team needs his presence on the court as the go-to scorer in the clutch. After the first technical foul, Anthony should’ve backed off. After the game, he could take his grievances to the league office, if he feels there’s a personal vendetta on Brothers’ behalf.

Whether poorly officiated or not, the Knicks can’t allow their frustrations to compound unfavorable calls. Anthony’s ejection set the tone on Friday night. As the leader of an NBA team, his demeanor and body language carry heavy influence. It’s no surprise the team finished with six technical fouls on a night their best player gets ejected.

Bench Bloomer?

On a brighter note, center Willy Hernangomez continued to contribute off the bench. Despite his five turnovers, he didn’t help an opponent off the floor and scored eight points while crashing the boards (12 rebounds) on both ends of the court.

In consecutive nights, Hernangomez has added a spark at power forward playing alongside Porzingis and at center.

With the 22-year-old rookie, the Knicks have a better scoring alternative to Kyle O’Quinn in the frontcourt within the second unit. Furthermore, Hernangomez and Mindaugas Kuzminskas have chemistry that already seems more fluid than the Lance Thomas and O’Quinn combination.

Notwithstanding the frustrating night with technical foul violations, the Knicks should feel encouraged about their two imports coming along together off the bench. Guard Justin Holiday also logged 11 points, shooting 2-of-5 from 3-point land.

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Looking Ahead

The Knicks must shake off the 28-point loss in a back-to-back sequence that leads them across the border. The division-leading Toronto Raptors (6-2) have won five of their last six games.

The Knicks must find a way to slow down shooting guard DeMar DeRozan who’s leading the league in scoring. He’s averaging 34.1 points per game coming into Saturday’s matchup.