Knicks spoil Lebron's return to Cleveland with win

After being annihilated by the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday Night,  the Knicks did the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag and said in this game, not this time.  The New York Knicks spoil Lebron's home opener by beating them 95-90.   Carmelo played a much better game than he did against the Bulls.  I think it's going to take some time for the Knicks to figure out this triangle offense.  Lebron James shot terrible last night from the field.  Here are the stats for each team.

Top 5 New York Knicks Scorers

Carmelo Anthony- 25 points, 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 9/17 FG, 5/7 FT, 2/4 3PTFG
Iman Shumpert- 12 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 4/7 FG, 4/5FT
Jason Smith- 12 points, 2 rebounds, 5/6FG, 2/2 FT
J.R. Smith- 11 points, 7 assists, 2 steals, 5/10 FG, 1/3 3PTFG
Shane Larkin- 9 points, 5 assists, 5 steals, 4/6 FG, 1/1 3PTFG



Top 5 Cleveland Cavaliers Scorers

Kyrie Irving- 22 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 8/15 FG, 5/7FT, 1/6 3PTFG
Kevin Love- 19 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 6/14 FG, 3/6 3PTFG, 4/4 FT
Lebron James- 17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 5/15 FG, 6/7FG, 1/5 3PTFG
Dion Waiters- 10 points, 2 assists, 4/9 FG, 2/5 3PTFG
Anderson Varejao- 10 points, 4 rebounds, 4/5 FG, 2/2 FT




New York Knicks Thoughts

1. I'm glad to see a much better outing for Carmelo Anthony with his 25 points.  When your star player can shoot over 50 percent or more each night, it increases your teams chances of winning. 
2. Jason Smith has been a nice surprise for the Knicks this season.  He scored 8 against the Bulls and tonight scored 12.  Smith is averaging 10 points per game and 60 percent shooting (9 of 15 from the field), coming off the bench.  
3.  Shooting 53% from the field and 50% from three will help you win ball games, unless the other team does better.  am glad to see the Knicks have a night like this, against one of the two teams in the Eastern Conference who are considered the possible favorites to win it all.
4. Shane Larkin is no Jose Calderon, but it was nice to see him have a solid night. I like Larkin as a backup.  Larkin with 5 steals.  The Knicks need to play with more defensive urgency. 
5. I'm predicting a bust out game from Carmelo Anthony in one of the next three games, the Knicks play the Hornets, Wizards and Pistons next.  I'm thinking that it will be against the Pistons.  I may be wrong though.  

Cleveland Cavaliers Thoughts

1. I don't feel that Cleveland is in trouble, because there is 81 more games to go.  I'm still between them and Chicago to win the East. I picked Cleveland only because of the health of D-Rose. 
2.  Lebron had 8 turnovers in this game. Superstars are allowed to have a bad night once in a while.  They are only human.  To me it was great defense by the Knicks for forcing Lebron to have 8 turnovers.
3. Coach David Blatt needs to use his lineups more.  He only played 9 guys last night. Varejao, Love, Lebron, Waiters, Irving, Thompson, Dellavedova, Marion and Mike Miller.  Lebron played for 43 minutes.  Lebron needs to play I feel 35-38 minutes. I would have liked to see Shawn Marion play more along with Mike Miller, and bring in James Jones for a couple of minutes for three point shooting
4. Kevin Love is still double double machine with 19 points and 14 rebounds.  Good night from him. 
5. Kyrie Irving had a solid performance too.  I think Lebron is taking it a little easy and let Kyrie run the show.  There is enough scoring on this team.  Will the Cavs play defense that's the question?  

What are your thoughts on this game?  Do you feel the Knicks will be better than last year?  Send me your comments. Thank you for reading Pro Basketball Hoops Land.  The place where you can read articles, send comments and purchase pro basketball merchandise.  I like to give my readers the opportunity to purchase merchandise right from this blog, from their favorite team.  Here are some New York Knicks merchandise that you can purchase. I hope you will make a purchase today.

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