Bring on Boston!
The Knicks clinched the second seed in the Eastern Conference today and sealed a first-round showdown vs. the seventh-seeded Celtics that is expected to start Saturday at the Garden.
With a rugged defensive performance and 25 points from Carmelo Antony, the Knicks disposed of Indiana, 90-80, in a Garden matinee, making sure the Knicks will have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference after Miami. The sloppy Pacers were forced into 26 turnovers.
“I think tonight defense won the game for us,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.
By winning the second seed over Indiana, the Knicks would have homecourt advantage vs. the Pacers if they meet in the second round. That will be huge since the season series ended 2-2 – each club winning both games on their home floor.
Melo’s streak of seven straight 30-point games ended, mostly because he played just 30 minutes, resting the fourth quarter after bruising his left shoulder. J.R. Smith added 15 points and 8 rebounds in the win.
“His shoulder is fine,” Woodson said of Anthony. “I would have brought him back but decided to pull him and ride the guys who got the lead for us.”
The Knicks have two regular-season games remaining that are meaningless – tomorrow in Charlotte and their regular-season finale Wednesday vs. Atlanta. The only significance is 6-11 reserve power forward Rasheed Wallace could play his first game tomorrow since mid-December after coming back early from foot surgery.
Anthony left the game after three quarters with what the Knicks called “a contused left shoulder’’ and didn’t return. As he sat on the bench, he received cold spray and had the shoulder wrapped in towels and bandages.
He was available to come back if needed. In fact, he got up to go to the midcourt scorer’s table after Indiana cut it to 10 points with 3:45 left but sat back down after Raymond Felton hit a jumper and the Pacers turned the ball over.
Melo was planning on sitting out the final two regular-season games anyway to rest. Now it’s a sure thing.
“We’ll start prepping for Boston after the Charlotte game,’’ Woodson said. “When we come back, we’ll start thinking about Boston at that time.’’
Added Woodson: “It didn’t matter to me who we played. What is more important for our team and franchise was to secure home court to start the playoffs. We are able now to secure the second round as well. We are going to have to deal with Boston. It is going to be a good series.”
Anthony hit his first four shots in the game’s opening 2:20 in a dazzling display as the Knicks jumped on the Pacers, 9-2. He capped his early spree with a 3-pointer after Pablo Prigioni stole the ball in the backcourt and fed it back to Melo.
Frustrated at the physical play against him, Melo picked up his 14th technical foul in the third quarter, which is two shy of getting a one-game suspension. Melo shouted “That was a bleeping foul.’’ However, he’ll get a clean technical slate in the playoffs.
Anthony hit a big 3-pointer in the final seconds of the third period to put the Knicks 69-58 and they carried a 69-60 into the fourth quarter.
With an 8-0 run to close the first, the Knicks led 23-15 after one. Melo had 13 points after the first quarter but scored just two points in the second period as he sat out the first six minutes.
The Knicks rolled without him, building a 20-point lead after back-to-back 3-pointers by Iman Shumpert and Steve Novak. However, their 41-21 lead disintegrated into a 47-40 halftime lead as the Pacers outscored the Knicks 19-6 to close out the half – aided by Brooklyn’s Lance Stephenson.
Lance Stephenson, out of Lincoln High in Brooklyn, had 13 points in the half and finished with 22. At one juncture, he turned to the courtside fans to taunt them after hitting a 3-pointer.
Rookie Chris Copeland had 12 points (5 of 8) in the half, further stamping himself as part of the playoff rotation. Copeland had started at center the past two games because of their big-man injury woes. But today Woodson went with newly signed Solomon Jones as starting center to add more size.