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So can the Knicks go 2-0 in 2010? As we always talk about, these are the games they must win at home if the team wants to make the playoffs.

For me the Nate situation is simple. He needs to stay focused. He has a million dollar incentive should the team make the playoffs and if he can continue to get past his man and make the defense react then he helps this team.

As Alan Hahn noted, Nate reportedly turned down a deal that would have sent him to the surprising (not to me) Grizzlies. Which is amazing when you consider his agent eventually demanded a trade.

Big game for the Knicks tonight, and I guess there won’t be a need for any “We want Nate” chants.

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The Spurs have not been quite as good as I thought they would be this year, most likely because Richard Jefferson has not lived up to his bill.  That said, I still consider the Spurs a contender out West.

Young players like George Hill and Dajuan Blair are helping this team win, but the fate of that franchise rests in the same place it has for the better part of this decade.  That would be in the hands of their big three, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobli.

Just as an aside, I always thought that Eddy Curry would be a good fit on this Spurs team from an offensive standpoint.  A deal between the two teams is unlikely as the Spurs do not have pieces to match up with Curry’s contract.  Just a thought…

Enjoy the game.  Let’s go Knicks!

Merry Christmas and hope everyone is enjoying their holiday. In looking at today’s key points, I’ll defer to the great Heat blog peninsulaismightier.

• After starting the season losing 14 of their first 17 games, the Knicks are 8-3 in the month of December.

• New York will be wearing their very weird green jerseys and the Heat will be wearing red.  Ho Ho Ho.

• The Knicks lead the league in appearances on Christmas.  This will be #45.

• D-Wade has taken just 21 free throws in his last 5 games (15-for-21).

In their first matchup the Knicks fell asleep at the end of the half. And their defense was pathetic allowing for the Heat to make 25 of 30 shots at one point. This, of course, seems to be a different Knick team defensively, it all depends on how they handle Wade all afternoon.

Check out our friend Eric Snow and NBA-TV’s pregame thoughts.

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Tommy is also scouting DJ Augustin via Twitter…read here.

Where: MSG
Watch: MSG
When: 7:30 PM

Starting Lineups

Knicks (9-17)

PG – Chris Duhon

SG – Wilson Chandler

SF – Danilo Gallinari

PF – Jared Jeffries

C – David Lee

Rest of rotation: Al Harrington, Jonathan Bender, Toney Douglas

Charlotte Bobcats (10-15)

PG – Raymond Felton

SG – Stephen Jackson

SF – Gerald Wallace

PF – Boris Diaw

C – Tyson Chandler

Rest of rotation: D.J. Augustin, Nazr Mohammed, Stephen Graham

Injuries: Larry Hughes (strained groin)

Game Notes:

The Knicks proved that they are able to beat the Bobcats in Charlotte, where they are a much better team.  The Knicks basically have the Bobcats that win by collapsing down the stretch and turning the ball over repeatedly.  This game is a must win.  I said before the Knicks played Charlotte and Chicago that if they were able to split the series with the two teams they would be successful.  To do that, they’re going to have to handle business at home.  The Bobcats played and lost last night in Charlotte to the Jazz.  They had to travel to New York in the inclement weather, so fatigue could be a factor.  The bottom line is that this game is a matter of revenge, and if the Knicks want to be considered a playoff contender, they have to beat the teams that they will be competing with.

Larry Brown, Boris Diaw, DJ Augustin, Michael Jordan…seems like a zillion plot lines to me.

No, don’t expect a Jonathan Bender sighting. But you can expect the Bobcats to give the Knicks fits tonight because they are so similarly matched.

Boris Diaw from the perimeter causes the Knicks issues, and you never know when Stephen Jackson can go for 40.

Follow Tommy’s thoughts during the game on TWITTER.

If you’re a Knick fan, again, root that the team hangs around in the first. If they are down double digits they will be fighting back all night long. They have been off and could start shaky, so if they are in the game after the first expect a solid performance throughout. They have thrived, as has their confidence, as the game rolls along. But falling too far behind is too much to ask in my opinion.

Follow Tommy’s LIVE tweets from MSG.

Tommy Dee says: Check out Zags’ chat with Doc Rivers, who relates to D’Antoni’s struggles.

When: 1 PM

Where: MSG

Lineups:

Celtics:

PG- Rondo

SG- Allen

SF- Pierce

PF- Garnett

C- Perkins

Knicks:

PG- Duhon

SG – Hughes

SF- Chandler

PF- Gallo

C- Lee

Notes:

Today marks the MSG debut for Curry, and with Boston’s fierce frontline, he might be needed. Coming off two nice wins, the Knicks hit a brick wall today in the Boston Celtics. However, we all remember how the Knicks surprised the C’s last season at the Garden. Can magic strike twice on Broadway?

Let’s go Knicks.

Nate shoots at wrong hoop…coach frowns. Finger point to BDL.

Devin Harris is back, Eddy Curry showed signs.

The Nets are searching for their first win of the season, and the Knicks handled them during the preseason.

Let’s have a chat…

Where: MSG

Watch: MSG

When: 7:30 PM

Starting Lineups

Knicks (1-3)

PG – Chris Duhon

SG – Larry Hughes

SF – Danilo Gallinari

PF- Wilson Chandler

C- David Lee

Rest of rotation: Al Harrington, Jared Jeffries Darko Milicic, Toney Douglas

Pacers (0-3)

PG – T.J. Ford

SG – Brandon Rush

F – Danny Granger

F – Dahntay Jones

C – Roy Hibbert

Rest of rotation: Solomon Jones, Luther Head, Earl Watson

Injuries: Eddy Curry (torn plantaris muscle)

Game Notes : Of course it’s been a long time since the Knicks and Pacers games have had much buzz, and at least for another year, that’s likely to continue. But the Knicks need to prove to their fans that they can beat less-than average teams on the Garden floor. They have to establish home court advantage.

Monday’s game against the Hornets was a step in the right direction. Of course, not getting blown out in the first half helps, but the team came out of the gates well, weathered a storm and made timely shots down the stretch.

Let’s see if that can continue and if the team can win two straight home games.

Where: MSG

Watch: MSG

When: 7:30 PM

Starting Lineups

Knicks (0-3)

PG – Chris Duhon

SG – Danilo Gallinari

SF – Wilson Chandler

PF – David Lee

C – Jared Jeffries

Rest of rotation: Al Harrington, Larry Hughes Darko Milicic, Toney Douglas

Hornets (1-2)

PG – Chris Paul

SG – Mo Pete

SF – Julian Wright

PF – David West

C – Emeka Okafor

Rest of rotation: James Posey, Peja, Hilton Armstrong, Bobby Brown

Injuries: Eddy Curry (torn plantaris muscle)

Game Notes (via nba.com)

New Orleans (1-2), which is looking to avoid its first 0-3 start on the road since 1999-2000, is finishing its first set of back-to-back games after falling 97-87 at Boston on Sunday.

Chris Paul scored 22 points and handed out eight assists, but the postgame discussion revolved around his matchup with Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo.

Paul and Rondo picked up technical fouls in the second quarter after getting tied up under the basket. After the game ended, Paul followed Rondo toward the locker room and had to be stopped by Celtics assistant coaches.

Paul said Rondo was lucky to play with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, then said the comment wasn’t a slight toward Rondo.

“He is a great point guard and he’s a champion,” Paul said. “It’s my hope to achieve that.”

Paul, averaging 24.0 points and 9.8 assists in four career games at Madison Square Garden, has yet to record a 10-assist game this season. He opened 2008-09 with seven straight double-digit assist performances.

First-year Hornet Emeka Okafor missed his third straight double-double Sunday with five points and 10 rebounds.

Playing for Charlotte last season, Okafor averaged 14.0 points and 10.0 boards in two games at New York.

When: 7:00

Where: Charlotte

Watch: MSG

Starting Lineups

Knicks (0-1)

PG – Chris Duhon

SG – Wilson Chandler

SF – Al Harrington

PF – David Lee

C – Jared Jeffries

Rest of Rotation:  Danilo Gallinari, Nate Robinson, Darko Milicic, Toney Douglas

Bobcats (0-1)

PG – Ray Felton

SG – Boris Diaw

SF – Gerald Wallace

PF – Stephen Graham

C – Tyson Chandler

Rest of the rotation: Gerald Henderson, D.J. Augustin, Nazr Mohammed, Derrick Brown

Injuries: Eddy Curry (torn calf muscle)

Game Notes: via NBA.com

New York may not have been quite as bad as Charlotte in its opener, but wasn’t much better. The Knicks fell 115-93 at Miami on Wednesday, trailing by as many as 31 points.

The Knicks allowed an Eastern Conference-worst 107.8 points per game in coach Mike D’Antoni’s first season in 2008-09. There wasn’t any improvement Wednesday as Miami shot 56.7 percent.

“We couldn’t make shots and couldn’t stop them,” D’Antoni said. “That’s not a good combo.”

Danilo Gallinari and David Lee each scored 22, with Gallinari making 7 of 13 shots from beyond the arc. The rest of the Knicks made 3 of 26 3-pointers.

“We need to learn from this loss and keep our heads up,” Gallinari said.

Newcomer Darko Milicic left a good impression on D’Antoni with four points and seven rebounds off the bench. Milicic left in the fourth quarter with a knee injury but is expected to be available Friday.

“On the positive side, I thought Darko came in and did a good job,” D’Antoni said. “He kind of solidified our defense. I think he’s OK with the knee, I didn’t want to risk it till the end. He could be key going forward.”

When: 7:30

Where: South Beach

Watch: MSG

Starting Lineups

Knicks (0-0)

PG – Chris Duhon

SG – Wilson Chandler

SF – Al Harrington

PF – David Lee

C – Jared Jeffries

Rest of Rotation:  Danilo Gallinari, Nate Robinson, Darko Milicic, Toney Douglas

Heat (0-0)

PG – Mario Chalmers

SG – Dwyane Wade

SF – Quentin Richardson

PF – Michael Beasley

C – Jermaine O’Neal

Rest of the rotation: Udonis Haslem, Carlos Arroyo, Daequan Cook, Chris Quinn

Injuries: Eddy Curry (torn calf muscle)

Game Notes: I’m not impressed by the Heat at all and if the Heat think they are going to come out on the floor, raise Tim Hardaway’s jersey to the rafters and scrape the Knicks then they are crazy.

Michael Beasley is a work in progress, and while his talent is unquestioned, it’s easy to see that he allows too much in his life to cloud his vision. Wade won’t go for that for very long, you can count on that.

As far as the Knicks, they have to continue to put up resistance defensively in terms of tips and steals. Even if the ball is deflected and not stolen, it keeps teams out of rhythm offensively.

At the end of the day, I would think the Knicks need to weather the storm from the outset and hope to close the game by consistently double-teaming Wade down the stretch. Let Wade get off for 3 quarters and hope that his teammates don’t hit shots late in the game.

Also,  from the looks of things Chris Quinn looks ready. For what, I’m not sure.

Speaking of Hardaway, this is my favorite highlight of ole’ Timmy. As Clyde would say, watch Hardaway’s “matador D.”

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When: 7:00

Where: Prudential Center

Watch: MSG

Starting Lineups

Nets (0-0)

PG – Rafer Alston

SG – Chris Douglas-Roberts

SF – Bobby Simmons

PF – Yi Jianlian

C – Brook Lopez

Rest of Rotation:  Rafer Alston, Tony Battie, Josh Boone, Terrence Williams, Sean Williams

Knicks (4-2)

PG – Chris Duhon

SG – Wilson Chandler

SF – Al Harrington

PF – David Lee

C – Jared Jeffries

Rest of Rotation: Danilo Gallinari, Nate Robinson, Darko Milicic, Toney Douglas

Injuries: Eddy Curry (torn calf muscle) Keyon Dooling (hip), Jarvis Hayes (shin) Devin Harris

MEDIA NOTES

Brook Lopez is ranked 11th in the NBA in preseason scoring at 17.2 ppg. while Chris Douglas-Roberts is 13th at 17.0 Courtney Lee leads the league in preseason minutes at 34.7 per game while CDR is ranked 4th in preseason mpg at 31.6. This contest between the Nets and Knicks will be the second ever NBA game played at the Prudential Center this preseason when the Nets met the Celtics on 10/13). The Rock is home to Seton Hall University’s men’s has hosted the championship games in 2007 and 2008 for the Legends Classic, an annual preseason college invitational Prudential Center will also be a regional site in the 2011 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament.

I will be interested in seeing how Danilo Gallinari bounces back and how Coach D’Antoni manages the game knowing that this is the last preseason game of the season before the team heads to Miami next Wednesday.

Feel free to leave the comments below…come on, let’s get a thread going…no Yankees tonight.

Where: The World’s Most Famous

When: 7:30 PM

Watch: MSG

Starting Lineups

Knicks (1-1)

PG – Chris Duhon

SG – Wilson Chandler

SF – Al Harrington

PF – David Lee

C – Jared Jeffries

Rest of Rotation: Nate Robinson, Darko Milicic, Danilo Gallinari, Toney Douglas, Jordan Hill

Sixers

PG -Louis Williams

SG – Iggy

SF – Thaddeus Young

PF – Elton Brand (Peekskill, NY)

C – Samuel Dalembert

Rest of Rotation:  Marreese Speights, Jason Smith, Jason Kapono, Jrue Holiday, Brandon Bowman

Injuries: Eddy Curry (strained hamstring)

Game Notes

D’Antoni reportedly will play Jeffries at center in hopes of matching up better with the duo of Brand and Dalembert early on. I wonder how many minutes Darko Milicic sees early and if D’Antoni utilizes Hill.

Looking forward to seeing Jrue Holiday very much to see where he’s at in the early stages of his development. As always, go Knicks, and post all in game comments or any questions here.

When: 2 PM

Where: Albany

Watch: MSG

Starting Lineups

Nets (0-0)

PG – Devin Harris

SG – Chris Douglas-Roberts

SF – Jarvis Hayes

PF – Yi Jianlian

C – Brook Lopez

Rest of Rotation: Keyon Dooling, Rafer Alston, Tony Battie, Josh Boone, Terrence Williams, Sean Williams

Knicks (0-0)

PG – Chris Duhon

SG – Larry Hughes

SF – Al Harrington

PF – David Lee

C – Jared Jeffries

Rest of Rotation: Danilo Gallinari, Nate Robinson, Darko Milicic, Wilson Chandler, Toney Douglas

Injuries: Eddy Curry (torn calf muscle) Courtney Lee (inflamed foot tendon)

GAME NOTES

Knicks (preseason) basketball has returned, and it feels so good. It is only preseason, and that’s why we need to not get too high or low on players. Preseason is the time to get a first glimpse at the young and new guys (Jordan Hill, Toney Douglas, Gallo, Darko Milicic,) have the team build chemistry going into the season, to try out different lineups and check their cohesiveness, and to get a look at the guys on the bubble (Sun Yue, Joe Crawford, Warren Carter, Ron Howard.)

It’s only the first preseason game, but I’m looking forward to seeing Danilo Gallinari. He had a great camp, and I think he’s poised to have a breakout year. I’m also interested in Toney Douglas. I didn’t think he was all that impressive in Vegas; He had two good games, and during his last two he had more turnovers than assists. His offense was also nowhere to be found. But, he too had a good camp, and an impressive four years at FSU, so it will be interesting to see if he can carve out a spot in the rotation with good preseason play. Jordan Hill is raw, but I really like him. I liked him before the draft, and I like him now. His shot selection is often iffy and his post moves wild, but he’s a big man made for this system, and he may surprise.

Mm, who else? Larry Hughes, Chris Duhon? Not thrilled to see either. Al Harrington has stepped up as the vocal leader on this team, and his play on the court is simply overlooked. Hopefully Wilson Chandler has worked on his handle and his jump shot is a little more consistent. In terms of the bubble guys, I’m not a huge Warren Carter fan. Where do his minutes come? Sun Yue really intrigues me, and I love Joe Crawford.  Tomorrow will be everybody’s first chance at seeing the team play together, and I’m looking forward to it.

When: 1pm
Where: MSG
TV: MSG

Starting Lineups

Knicks (29-46)
PG- Chris Duhon
SG- Larry Hughes
SF- Wilson Chandler
PF- Al Harrington
C- David Lee

Raptors (29-45)

PG- Jose Calderon
SG- Anthony Parker
SF- Shawn Marion
PF- Chris Bosh
C- Andrea Bargnani

Preview

Well, we all now get to have a close up look at Chris Bosh for the next two days.  I went to the game last year at the Garden when Bosh threw up 40 points on the Knicks.  We all know that Walsh has his eye on this guy, so let’s see what he can show us today and tomorrow.

The Raptors are currently 1/2 game ahead of us in the standings, or shouldI say, we are 1/2 game ahead of them in the lottery standings.  With the Raptors coming off a win over the Magic (did anyone watch them demolish the Cavs last night?) and apparently playing with a legit purpose, I can see a sweep this weekend.  With the Warriors playing good ball, it is not out of the question for the Knicks to leap-frog into the 7 spot.

The story of the game, to me, is Chris Bosh.  But of course, let’s see if D’Antoni can give Sims or Crawford a bit of playing time today.  Also, look to see if Curry gets some action. I get the impression that D’Antoni wants to play Curry so long as Curry toughens up and shows a strong desire to play.  We will see.