Did the New York Knicks re-hire Mike D'Antoni?
It's only preseason, and at that, game number one of the preseason, but the Knicks shot the lights out from distance, defeating the Washington Wizards by a 108-101 score. Carmelo Anthony had 17 points on 4-of-9 shooting and grabbed five rebounds, but it was the Knicks' bench that provided most of the scoring. Steve Novak picked up right where he left off - in the regular season at least - as last year's league leader in 3-point percentage knocked down all of his seven three point attempts, finishing with a game high 21 points. The Knicks' likely sixth man, J.R. Smith, went 8-of-11 from the field for 20 points, and 35-year-old Argentinean rookie Pablo Prigioni had 14 points.
Many of the Knicks' new faces made their first appearances in orange and blue, including Jason Kidd who had four points and four assists while logging 23 minutes. Raymond Felton, back for a second stint with New York, started and led the team with eight assists. Another once-former-now-current Knick, veteran Kurt Thomas, earned the start in place of the injured Amare Stoudemire, who is nursing a knee injury.
The big knock on the Knicks as the season draws closer is their age and injury potential. Aside from Stoudemire, the Knicks' backup frontcourt was also out due to physical ailments, including Marcus Camby and the newly signed but not yet in shape Rasheed Wallace.
The Wizards, who were without point guard John Wall and center Nene, were led by Jordan Crawford's 17 points. Rookie Bradley Beal, who the Wizards selected with the third overall pick in this past eyar's draft, had 15 points off the bench in his first professional game.