Hanging On

Considering everything that has happened this year, could you really expect the Knicks to get an easy win? After cruising through three quarters and building a 20-point lead, New York managed to hang on to defeat Orlando 97-94.

Perhaps it was because of his shoulder, but in a matchup of two of the better point guards in the league, Stephon Marbury didn’t show up. Steve Francis torched him for 36 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter while Marbury managed only 8 points and 7 assists. Eddy Curry had one of his best games as a Knick scoring 27 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.

With the win, the Knicks “improved” to 14-27 exactly halfway through the season. The perplexing thing is David Lee and Nate Robinson spent most of the game on the bench, logging only fourteen minutes combined. The Knicks aren’t going anywhere this year, so why not play the kids? Could it be that they are trying to win because their first-round draft pick is going to Chicago and right now it would probably be in the top five? Let’s hope management is not that shortsighted.

Photo by Adam Pantozzi via Tozzer.net