Wizards 64, Knicks 65 (9:45 left in the 4th)
To characterize Larry Brown’s first 12 minutes coaching a home game at MSG as inauspicious would be like calling Penny Hardaway overpaid. That the Knicks have survived — so far — their own horrible shot selection (this could be brutal if Jamal Crawford off the bench is a massive improvement on Quentin Richardson) and carelessness eventually matched being equalled in the 3rd quarter by the less-than-terrifying Wizards. I’m begining to think that even if Kurt Thomas were to be hit by a truck tomorrow morning, Phoenix would still have gotten the better of that particular trade
Trevor Ariza (8 points, 7 rebounds off the bench) has brought some sorely need initiative, but it’s nothing short of agonizing to see the way most of his teammates stand around and watch as long-range jumper after another is retrieved by the opposition.
Perhaps Eddy Curry is still playing his way back into shape. But along with an alleged reluctance to jump, you can add running to his list of things he seems to avoid.
I found a bone in a bag of nuts tonight. Feeling superstitious, I broke it in half while making a wish. Alas, James Dolan still owns the team and The Knicks City Kids are still allowed to “entertain” the somewhat fewer than 19,000 in attendance.
After landing on Ron Artest’s foot last night, Miami’s Shaquille O’Neal is expected to miss 2-4 weeks of action
I’ll probably not catch up with most of Friday’s games until much later, but Richard Jefferson scorched the Raptors…and I wish I was watching the finale of Detroit at Boston.
Toasty Post-Script : Wizards 86, Knicks 75.
To those nay-sayers who claim this is going to be a long season, I beg to differ. Based on what we’ve seen after two games against teams who aren’t quite the league’s elite, the Knicks’ 2005-2006 program will be exactly 82 games in duration. I’d love to give Gilbert Arenas (above) and Antwain Jamison more credit, but with all due respect to Wizznuts and the shareholders of VHF Records, when you’re unguarded that often, you’re supposed to score.