Melo Scores 36 As Knicks Defeat Thunder In 125-120 Victory, Win 12th Straight.
Earlier today in the first of ABC’s double-header, the Knicks were looking to extended their winning-streak pushing 12 against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a road game. The first quarter started off to no surprise of both teams scoring 30-plus points each being offensive-prone teams.
Largely contributed from outside shooting due to both teams lacking an inside presence with defensive front courts, including a three-pointer from Serge Ibaka himself; we were in store for a back and forth duel. Kevin Durant didn’t score a field goal in the quarter due to the Knicks aggressive style defense but would try to get his game going in the 2nd quarter scoring 9-points in the period adding to his 7-17 (13-15 FT’s) 25 point game.
The Knicks would just outrun the Thunder in the 2nd scoring 35 points holding the Thunder to only 25 with Chris Copeland scoring 11 points helping lead the way with Melo and J.R. Smith scoring the bulk of the load.
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In the second half, the OKC would try their best with Russell Westbrook taking over the game to lead all scorers with 37 and 11 rebounds but the Knicks outside shooting from beyond the arch was too much for them to overcome down the stretch with both Melo and J.R. hitting two key three pointers to keep their lead in-tact.
An interesting note really quick was the Thunder front court rebounding with Ibaka, Perkins and Durant totaling 14 in comparison to the point guard Westbrook who had 11 alone. OKC is currently in a top seed race with the San Antonio Spurs still being down by a full game and have only 5 games left, three of which are on the road.
San Antonio also has the same schedule set up including a one against the Lakers who are still trying to secure a playoff seed. The Knicks have picked the perfect time to build chemistry heading into the playoffs winning 12 in a row and with Danny Granger out for the year; they have a legitimate shot at making it to the Easter Conference finals to play Miami. Today marked their first 50-win season in over 13 years led by Carmelo Anthony who’s been averaging 34-points a game his last 10 games.
He also passed Kevin Durant for the NBA scoring lead and could end his scoring title run which has lasted since 2010. If OKC’s playing this vulnerable with coaching problems and talent not being on the right page, the Western Conference could be up for grabs if they come across the wrong match-up in the first round.