The New York Knicks clinched their first Atlantic Division title in 20 years last night with their exciting victory over the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden. I know I was elated being a life long fan of this team, and I can remember the last division title win ; it was a long time ago.
Carmelo Anthony continued his run as a scoring machine putting in another big scoring night, with 36 points. Both J.R. Smith and Chris Copeland added 17 points each off the bench, and the Knicks winning streak extends to 13 straight games.
When I think about where this team was after my blog post about the West Coast trip (and that was a debacle) the fact that they have not lost since they closed that road trip with a win at Utah, is remarkable. The injuries along the way should have derailed this Knicks team, and it has done nothing to slow down their march to the division title.
However, while I am excited at the Knicks playoff potential, I am not ready to jump into the camp of fans out there who believe this team can defeat the Miami Heat. The Knicks have to win a couple of series in the playoffs first before we can even address the Miami Heat matchup. While I will concede that Miami has some injuries and issues; the Knicks have injuries and issues as well at this point.
INJURY ISSUES
The key injuries to be concerned with as a Knicks fan at this point are: Kenyon Martin, Tyson Chandler, and Amare Stoudemire. The issue with Martin is the timing of the injury is very poor in that 2 – 4 weeks at this point in the season (only 5 games remaining) is a big problem. Those minutes are going to have to be filled by another bench player, and we have to hope he returns closer to 2 weeks than 4.
The Chandler injury is bad because you are dealing with the neck, which is always a touchy injury because neck injuries can be balky and take a long time to get back to normal. While nobody would question the toughness of Chandler, I would rather rest him now and have him at top form in the playoffs. I know some Knicks fans feel that we should remind Coach Woodson of that fact: it is not about winning 53 or 54 games, the goal has and will remain much bigger than regular season records. The Knicks are in this to win a NBA Championship for a fan base that has been waiting for 40 years in the largest city and media market in the league.
AMARE – will he return? – The two camps and my perspective
The Stoudemire injury has two distinct camps when you talk about the media and the fan base. The first camp believes that Stoudemire is not important to the team and its success and that he clogs up the offense when he is on the floor. The second camp believes that he is a valuable asset to the team when given a specific role and provides a much needed front court presence where the Knicks have a void at this point.
My personal feelings as a fan of this team for many years falls somewhere in between the two camps when it comes to Amare, but leans more towards the second camp. I feel Amare is a very talented player and can be lethal in the pick and roll against teams that struggle to defend against it. I will always have an affinity to Amare for being the first star caliber player to come to the Knicks and really put the team on its current course. The Knicks without Amare would not have swung the deal for Carmelo Anthony and would not be where they are in the standings today. I also love Amare’s style of play on the offensive end when he is in a groove. He provides something to the front court that is lacking without his presence in the lineup.
CONCLUSION – EXPECTATIONS
Well, Knicks fans, we have 5 games left before we start the playoffs, and the Knicks are in pretty good shape, now we have to hope for these injured players to return to the lineup. The Knicks at full strength are going to be a tough matchup for anyone in the playoffs. It is an exciting time to see if they can deliver on the expectations the media and fan base have for this team.