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| via thehoopdoctors.com |
On Sunday the Knicks welcome the red hot Minnesota Timberwolves to The Garden, led by star power forward Kevin Love and their flashy Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio. The T-Wolves come into the game a perfect 2-0, coming off an impressive blowout of Kevin Durant and the OKC Thunder on Friday. If the Knicks plan on staying in this game they will have to give Tyson Chandler help on the boards especially with Love and center Nikola Pekovic averaging a combined 23 boards a game per NBA.com. The Bulls were able to take advantage of the ‘Bockers on the boards outrebounding them 48-42 on Thursday. Look for Coach Mike Woodson to use a lot of Kenyon Martin especially with Amar’e Stoudemire out against the T-Wolves big front line that is going to keep Chandler and company busy all night. It will also be interesting to see if Woodson opts with going small and playing Carmelo Anthony at power forward against Love or will he go big with Bargnani at power forward and Melo at small forward. The Knicks have had more success going small, but Love might be a lot for Anthony to handle over the course of the game.
The guards will also have their hands full with the crafty Ricky Rubio creating for Minnesota coming in averaging 10 assists. Look for Pablo Prigioni and Raymond Felton and maybe even Iman Shumpert late in the game to switch off trying to corral the red hot point guard and limit his opportunities. On the offensive end, the Knicks are still looking for that second scorer after Melo with reigning Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith still serving his five game suspension. Bargnani started to find the range in the second half of the Bulls game would be the most viable candidate if he can use his length to his advantage. Both Shumpert and rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. are other candidates who both hit their shots on Thursday and will be needed down the stretch to help Melo close. The most interesting storyline of this game will be what happens when the game is close late and the Knicks are forced to score in the half court, will Coach Woodson have an offensive set aside from give Melo the ball and stare at him. If the Knicks hope to compete in the postseason their late game offense actually has to improve drastically. After Rose hit the floater on last game everyone in the building knew Melo was getting the ball and his teammates would just watch. For Woodson to run a half court set someone will have to prove they can knock down shots down the stretch, look for Shumpert to fill this void if given the opportunity.
Expect this game to be very competitive throughout the game, with the winning team being the one that can control the glass and keep the opposing team star under control. The T-Wolves held Kevin Durant to 13 points on Friday so for the Knicks to pull this one out Shumpert, Felton and Hardaway Jr. all must hit shots help free up Melo when it counts.
Tip-Off is at 7:30pm on MSG Network.
