Garden cuts the music & Melo is muted on bench
The World’s Most Famous Arena on Sunday was as silent as Phil Jackson. No piped-in music, manufactured crowd noise or even the sound of an old fashioned organ to generate a beat. “I didn’t like it,” Kristaps Porzingis said following the Golden State Warriors 112-105 win on Sunday. “It was weird.” It was certainly strange. It felt like a funeral and a basketball game were taking place at the same time. It certainly didn’t go over well with the millionaire millennial crowd. Draymond Green called it “pathetic” and “disrespectful.” “You advance things in the world to make it better,” Green added. “You don’t go back to what’s bad. Computers can do anything for us. It’s like going back to paper. Why would you do that? It was ridiculous.” The concept, according to an official statement from MSG, was so the fans “can experience the game in its purest form.” In fairness, that’s a bit of a reach considering this is the Knicks. But you get the point. With only a sleepy Sunday afternoon crowd to rely on for sound, the Garden fell so quiet for one half that you could actually hear the ball bounce, sneakers squeak. It was so quiet in fact that you could hear Carmelo Anthony counting in his head all the minutes he was sitting during the second quarter. “I told y’all, I’m done asking why,” Anthony said afterward. “I don’t even think y’all should ask nobody about that. Just leave that one alone. Please. It’s over. It happened. Let’s move on.” If only it were that simple. Anthony sat for nearly 10 minutes on Sunday and just two days after questioning Jeff Hornacek’s in-game adjustments following Friday’s loss to the Sixers. Maybe Melo thought of it as a form of punishment. It was definitely a bold move in such a high-profile game. It was also the right move as the Knicks, with Ron Baker playing the entire second quarter, erased a 12-point deficit while Porzingis was putting together a highlight reel.
This has been an inconsistent season for the secondyear forward, but in the second period he was simply the best player on the floor. Two plays in particular stood out; Porzingis used a cross-over dribble to drive past Green and finish with a reverse lay-up. “He’s real good,” Green said. The other was when Porzingis ended the first half with a Dirk Nowitzki-like step back jumper that finally brought the crowd to life.
“I’ve worked on that (shot),” Porzingis said. “But it’s not in my arsenal yet.”
Porzingis scored 12 points in the period and finished with 24 overall. Derrick Rose added 28 points, including 10 of 11 from the foul line. With the game on national television and Rose advertising for a contract, the former MVP had a bounce in his step.
Rose is sticking to his strengths: pick-and-rolls, drives to the baskets and pull-ups in the lane. He played 35 minutes and attempted one 3-pointer. He’s basically taken that part of his game out of his arsenal and will need to work on it during the offseason to be compatible with today’s game.
Consider that Steph Curry played 37 minutes and attempted 13 3-pointers, making five after going 4-for31 in his three previous games. Curry finished with 31 points as he and Klay Thompson combined for 60 points in the Warriors’ league-leading 51st win.
Golden State was reeling emotionally from having lost Kevin Durant on Tuesday to a knee injury. That could keep him out until the first round of the playoffs. The Warriors had also lost two straight regular-season games for the first time since April 2015. There’s no need to rehash that three-game losing streak from last June.
The Warriors may not end up with the best record — the Spurs are 2.5 games back — but Golden State is focused on getting Durant back and healthy for at least the second round. He’s been their best player and without him it’s hard to imagine the Warriors can reach the NBA Finals for a third straight year. eanwhile, the Knicks’ best player may be on the verge of being lost. The team played one of its last meaningful regularseason games at home in a quiet arena — at least for one half — and with Anthony on the bench for 10 minutes.
MMelo took 12 shots in 35 minutes or five more than Baker, who played 23 minutes. Rose attempted 18 shots and Porzingis 21. That’s all well and good when you win. When you lose, the star player only remembers that he sat for a long stretch in the second quarter.
The silence was incredibly awkward.