The New York Knicks bested the Dallas Mavericks Monday night 93-77, upping their sub-.500 record to a count of 4 wins and 6 losses. Ten games into the season it would stand to reason that they are far from near they want to be; hopefully 20 to 30 games into the season this will not be their narrative. Playing another team in recent days devoid of two of its starters, a team who themselves has been putting on a poor display, the Knicks did what they were expected to do, and put a reeling Mavericks team out of its misery.
After an ugly start by a seemingly disinterested first team, the Knicks looked to their second unit to bail them out of an ugly first quarter in which they shot poorly from the field and seemed to resume the same porous defense that has been their calling card in their previous two losses. To be fair, both teams seemed hard-pressed to even be able to hit the side of a barn on most of their attempts, initially turning the game into a barely watchable contest as both teams aimed to find cohesion.
The second-half turned into a much better deal for the Knicks, with contributions from the unlikeliest of sources. Such as shooting-guard Justin Holiday, who continues to show flashes on both ends of the court and is making it difficult for coach Jeff Hornacek to keep him on the bench. Holiday started the second-half, and the length and energy which he provided helped to add another dimension to the usual contributions from Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis.
An ugly win it may have been from an aesthetic point of view, however a loss under the aforementioned terms would have painted a much uglier picture than the one the Knicks are currently attempting to create of themselves. We will just have to see if this is the beginning of their version of a masterpiece.
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