Preview of Tonight's Knicks vs. Thunder Showdown

                                  

Tonight is a very important game for the New York Knicks and their continued quest for relevance within the NBA and Eastern Conference.  After a disappointing week and a few days of rest, the Knicks have the opportunity to take the court and defeat one of the premier teams in the Western Conference, a team that boasts some of the best young talent in the game.  The Knicks will go toe to toe with Kevin Durant (27.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG and 3.0 APG) and Russell Westbrook (22.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 8.4 APG) who have proven to be one of the most formidable and explosive duo's in the league.  The Knicks will encounter with their own explosive duo of Amare "Stat" Stoudemire (26.5 PPG, 9.4 RPG and 2.1 BPG) and Raymond Felton (18.4 PPG, 9.0  APG, and 1.9 SPG), who are looking to rebound from being truncated by both the Heat and Cavaliers.  The World's most famous arena will be rocking tonight, as the Knick fans look to show the NBA that their previous win streak was no fluke. 

Stay close to the action by following @NYKnicksToday on Twitter!! Tweets throughout the game!!

The Transformation has Begun, Even if it isn't as Seamless as They Had Hoped...

A lot has been said about what has transpired in the Knicks universe over the last 6 days.  There were great expectations going into the past week, and these expectations were not realized.   However, how many of us actually thought the Knicks were going to beat the Heat?!?!? If you raised your hand, then i must say that you have not been watching the Knicks to closely.  They have improved tremendously over the last few seasons, as well as since the beginning of the year, however, they are not there yet.
They are not at the point where they can fail to play a perfect game and still win.  This is not to say that they are a bad team, in fact, they are a good team.  To see the leadership that Stoudemire and Felton have brought to this team is simply outstanding.  They hurt today, but they only hurt today because Stoudemire and Felton, have forced them to grow since the beginning of the season. No longer will the players continue, unaccountable for their performance both on and off the court.  Stoudemire and Felton demand hustle, desire, and accountability from each one of their teammates.  For the most part, their teammates are delivering.  We can only hope that they can shake off the negative and take in the positive.  Last season, the Knicks lost to the Celtics by more than 50 points, this season they battled them tooth and nail to the finish.  They must keep their heads held high, knowing that change is not only imminent, it is currently upon them.  The transformation has begun, even it if isn't as seamless as some may have hoped.

Ugly 109-102 Overtime Loss to the Lebronless Cavaliers

This was suppose to be what was no longer happening.  The Knicks were no longer going to look meek when staring in the eyes of sub .500 opponents.  All media outlets had made a point to ensure that everyone knew the previous win streak was against such lowly competition, and that all excitement should be kept to a minimum.  It seems as though they were right, except maybe we were even giving the Knicks too much credit as it was.  They showed this as they wallowed in the face of adversity and found a way to give the game back to the Cavaliers at the end of regulation.  Outscoring the Cavaliers 27-21 in the first quarter, everything appeared to be going as planned.  The Knicks would push the ball, make some three's and cruise on to victory (with Cleveland making a slight run), this was the script.  However, no one told Cleveland they had to follow the script. Cleveland went on to outscore the Knicks 28-25 in the second quarter, and 25-22 in the third quarter.  The Knicks tried to hold on in the fourth, but ended up parallel with the Knicks and Cleveland each scoring 19 in the fourth, and thus ending up in the same place they started.  Stoudemire had a chance ti win it in regulation, but missed a fairly routine 12 footer and the crowd took a sigh of relief.  Headed to overtime, you wanted to believe that the Knicks would pull it out.  But from the tip, you somehow knew this was not going to go in favor, and it didn't. 
The Knicks have now not only only lost 3 straight, but have also seen their 8 game road winning streak come to an end.  Gallinari's performance was nothing short of horrible, he shot 3-14 from the field, including 1-9 from three point range.  This is the kind of performance that will lead to Knick losses against sub .500 teams.  Even though the team has improved, all players need to be clicking for this team to win.  D'Antoni said it best, "I thought we were depleted of energy most of the night. They ground it out and we didn't. ... It was a test of character, and we failed the test today."
Things are going to need to change between now and Wednesday, if the Knicks are going to give the Thunder a real game.