Isiah Thomas, sadly, only visits once a year. It is key to make this count.
Actually, the Kings haven't dominated the Knicks in their (NYK's) recent woeful years. The teams traded road wins last season (with the Kings losing to an 0-5 Knicks team at home early on, and Mike Bibby going for 35 and 10 in NYC the same day Ron Artest became a King). When the Knicks visited Sacramento in 2005, it took a miracle game-winner for the Kings to get a victory in a game where three Sactown starters were named Maurice Evans, Matt Barnes, and Darius Songaila.
These Knicks seem to have life, too. Though the (straking?) Clippers throttled NYK on NYE, the Knicks have won 4 of 7. Not bad for an utterly horrible team.
Let's get to it.
STARTERS:
PG - That is three straight nice games for Mike Bibby. In that stretch, he's 25 for 47 (53%) for 68 points, with 15 assists and 4 turnovers. But as we said, Mike Bibby cannot be considered "back" until his season fg% sits above .380. It is currently .372.
SG - Kevin Martin is #5 in PER among shooting guards, behind Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Michael Redd, and Manu Ginobili.
SF - I am happy to see Ron Artest is not upset about resting most of Saturday night. However, I have a feeling he would not be so affable if the pine time came in a battle against another fast-paced team, such as the Phoenix Suns.
PF - Kenny Thomas is well. Hmph.
C - Brad Miller was not a model of good interior defense against Andris Biedrins on Saturday. This makes me somewhat concerned about the impending Eddy Curry situation.
NEW YORK
PG - Stephon Marbury seems to come off infinitely better than Steve Francis these days, no? Not the best statistical season for Starbury, though - 13 pts, 5 asts, and 39% shooting in 35 mpg. Hmm.
SG - Jamal Crawford is shooting .385 on the season.
SF - Jared Jeffries is shooting .423 on the season.
PF - Channing Frye is slumping something fierce this season, and is shooting .409.
C - Eddy Curry is scoring 18.2 ppg on .557 shooting. I think Eddy Curry is the man to double on repeatedly.
THE LINE:
I cannot believe the Kings are 10-point favorites against any team. I think it might be silly not to take the Knicks with that spread. The Kings are not this good at home (Saturday night, last Wednesday notwithstanding).
INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT NOTE:
I think this is the perfect opportunity for Ron Artest to test his metal inside with Eddy Curry. It is not as if someone like Brad Miller or Shareef Abdur-Rahim will be able to alter many Curry iso shots anyways, so why not stick the strongest guy on your squad on him and try to deny deep position? Ron is a much better ball defender than he is chasing guys around (thanks to his strength and quick hands). I'd give it a shot. Tell your guards to let their guards fire as many threes as they want, too.
PREGAME HAIKU:
Shooters they are not,
but the Knicks remain frisky.
Good teams win these games.
What's the time? It's time to inch back towards .500! Woohoo!