Are the Knicks really back?

The New York Knicks played the Boston Celtics yesterday in a really intense game. Toney Douglas and Ray Allen exchanged words and had to be separated. This was the first time that fans saw Toney Douglas stand up to a veteran player. Then after the final buzzer Kevin Garnett grabbed Bill Walker’s neck leading to speculation of if Kevin Garnett will be suspended. The Knicks showed that they weren’t going to back down after they lost their big lead in the second half. The important thing was the play of Carmelo Anthony who scored 17 points in the fourth quarter. He played little in the third quarter, but Mike D’Antoni played him the entire fourth quarter. Anthony led the team during that fourth quarter in a big game. This was the first time in the last eleven meetings that the Knicks were able to beat the Celtics.

So with that said, are the Knicks really back?

Yes the Knicks are back and better then ever. Yesterday was just the beginning of a great season. The addition of Tyson Chandler will put the Knicks in the running of being a top tier team. The Knicks second unit played strong early on yesterday, but an injury to Iman Shumpert put the Knicks in tough spot at their guard position. After the game the team called Shumpert’s injury a MCL sprain that will keep him sidelined for 2-4 weeks.

The Knicks win yesterday proved that they can beat a top team without their best defense. Even with their 11 blocks the Knicks were unable to stop Rajon Rondo from driving through the lane and scoring. The Knicks defense will get tougher as they play more games. But what the league has learned that the Knicks will be a tough team this season and they aren’t going to be easy to beat.