The Cleveland Cavaliers have won four of their past 44 basketball games. Take a second, digest that. This is the NBA, remember. A league with a salary cap (of sorts). Next, take this in: two of those four victories have come at the expense of the New York Knicks. And not just the pre-Carmelo Knicks. Yep, a week ago, these revamped 'Bockers went into Cleveland and were outplayed by the Cavs, surrendering 115 points to a team that puts up a nightly average south of 96. So when the Cavs come into MSG tonight, you'd better believe the Knicks have revenge on their mind.
"[Tonight] is a payback game, man," Carmelo Anthony said yesterday. "[Last Friday’s] game, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. And the team’s mouth. And we remember that. We hold grudges."
-Via New York Post
The Knicks (31-32) come into tonight's game fresh off beating down the
New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night. Key to that victory for the Knicks was
Toney Douglas, who stepped in for
Chauncey Billups and led the way with 24 points. Billups will be out again tonight, so Douglas will be the one with the responsbilitiy of getting
Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony their touches. Stat and Melo should be well rested, having sat the bulk of the fourth quarter in Wednesday's laugher.
The Cavs bring the league's worst record to the Garden at 11-49, and have lost two in a row since defeating the Knicks last Friday. One bright spot for the Cavs has been the play of J.J. Hickson, who's averaging 17 pointd ans 11 rebounds in his last twn games. Last time out against the Knicks, Hickson put up a 24-15 effort, exposing the Knicks' lack of an interior presence.
But let's face it. When you boast the likes of Anthony and Stoudemire, the Cavs should be ripe for the taking.
