Carmelo Anthony hits for season-high in points, game-winner as Joakim Noah sits
The New York Knicks vaulted into the realm of “hey, not bad!” earlier this week with a close win over Portland, and despite the best efforts of the team’s front office the team remains amongst the league’s go-to watches even in times of storm and stress.
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Friday night was an example of such. Carmelo Anthony exploded for a season-high 35 points along with 14 rebounds – his first double-double of the 2016-17 season – hitting the game winner as New York prevailed in overtime over Charlotte by a 113-111 score:
The win moved the Knicks to 8-7 overall, the first time the team has ranked above .500 so far along this season. Anthony, the team-leader in scoring at 22.8 per contest entering the matchup with Charlotte, hit 14-25 from the field alongside half of his six three-point attempts, grabbing two steals and dishing five assists in a two-turnover performance.
He’d had a chance to win the game in the final seconds of the fourth quarter as well, prior to his face-up jumper spinning out. Nevertheless, a season-high in points and rebounds against Charlotte defensive maven Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is something certainly worth crowing about.
Once the noise dies down, though, the team and its observers will focus on the glaring absence of Joakim Noah. One that was obvious throughout the second half and overtime.
Noah started the contest despite missing the previous two due to illness, two strong Knick wins over those Blazers and the Hawks. Averaging 4.3 points, 3.5 assists and 8.9 rebounds in 23 minutes a contest entering Friday, Noah contributed six points on 3-5 shooting with eight rebounds in 18 minutes, but in the fourth quarter and overtime Knicks went with 7-3 “forward” Kristaps Porzingis, Kyle O’Quinn and rookies Willy Hernangomez and Mindaugas Kuzminskas up front as Joakim watched from the sidelines.
Porzingis responded with two crucial blocks late in the fourth quarter and overtime alongside 18 points, eight rebounds and three blocks overall. Hernangomez added six points, nine rebounds and a block in 19 minutes, while the battle between the other two Noah replacements remains undecided:
This game exemplified the "Kyle O'Quinn vs. Willy Hernangomez" divide this season: KOQ had better stats, Willy played better pic.twitter.com/O77VvmO93B
— Joseph Flynn (@ChinaJoeFlynn) November 26, 2016
Following the game, Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek did not chalk up Noah’s absence to any ongoing illness:
Jeff Hornacek said Joakim Noah was available to play in OT but he decided to go with a smaller lineup (Porzingis at C) to match Charlotte.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) November 26, 2016
The Knick center is in the first year of a four-year, $72 million contract, and he’ll turn 32 in February. Hope remained that Joakim Noah would be able to overcome the significant knee and shoulder injuries that stemmed from the Chicago Bulls squeezing as much as they could out of him over his nine-year career with the team. Sadly, that doesn’t seem to be the case thus far. Much less in 2019-20.
Prior to the game, upon his return from flu-like symptoms, Noah admitted that things have been uneasy thus far in an illness and injury-limited 2016-17:
“I’m trying to figure it out,” he said recently. “There’s no question. It’s been really up and down, but I think that’s kind of my role on this team. Some nights, it’s going to be my night. Sometimes it’s not. At the end of the day, I just have to be consistent with my effort and try to bring something positive to this team.”
In the same New York Times feature, from Mike Vorkunov, Hornacek insisted that he isn’t thinking “minutes” (read: four years, $72 million) when it comes to doling out playing time for Joakim:
“We don’t really look at how many minutes — oh, like we’ve got to keep him to this number, that number — for the long haul,” Hornacek said of Noah. “We’re just looking at it like, does he have the energy out there? Are the other guys doing well? Can we go to a small lineup a little bit?’’
From Marc Berman at the New York Post, prior to Friday’s win over Charlotte:
“It’s hard to play all three of those guys. We tried to go with Willy early and the second half depends on how he played in the first half,” Hornacek said. “If I feel he was having a good night, we’ll stay with him. If he’s just been OK, I’ll give Kyle a chance. That’s tough when you got three guys who can all play. It’s not easy for them.”
Willy Hernangomez on playing big minutes down the stretch: "I have to say thank you to the coach for trusting me."
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) November 26, 2016
The Knicks have played well at times with Noah on the season, despite the ups and downs. It’s early, but the situation is also worth monitoring.
Like, thankfully, each of these New York Knicks. Whether they run the damned triangle or not.
(They don’t.)
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
