For all the early musings about the Knicks’ aging defense, they can still show some dazzle on the offensive side of the ball. A 121-100 victory against the Detroit Pistons looked tantamount to a Sunday stroll in the park.
With an anticipated matchup against their new crosstown rivals, the Brooklyn Nets, looming Monday, the Knicks treated Detroit like a sparring partner, a warm-up act, an early shootaround. They hit 51.5 percent from beyond the arc to score a season-high in points and end a two-game skid.
The Knicks returned from a disappointing trip, with two losses in which they allowed 245 points to the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets.
It was enough to draw some self-reflective criticism from Coach Mike Woodson and center Tyson Chandler, who said of Friday’s game, “we just had lapses all over the place.”
Toward the bottom in the Eastern Conference in almost every offensive category, the young Pistons — average age: 25 years, 328 days — fell behind, 18-16, early on and never caught up.
The Knicks finished off the first quarter on a 14-6 run and, after a slow start to the second, finished the half with a 24-10 run. That stretched the Knicks’ lead to 64-44 at halftime.
Detroit had 12 turnovers in the first half, sloppy play it could ill afford. The Pistons had nowhere near the firepower capable of keeping pace with the Knicks, who hit 8 3-pointers and scored a season-high 64 points in the first half.
They shot 11 of 18 for 32 points in the first quarter, led by Carmelo Anthony, who hit his first six shots and scored 15 points in the first 10 minutes. Anthony finished with a game-high 29.
The Pistons hung around, cutting the lead to 8 late in the third quarter, but the Knicks always seemed to have an answer. Be it a 3-pointer by Steve Novak (who made five of them) or a steal by Jason Kidd (who collected three) or a timely dish by Raymond Felton (who had 10).
EXTRA POINTS
Rasheed Wallace returned after missing Friday’s game with a sore left foot, scoring 15 points with one block and one steal in 22 minutes. Marcus Camby also saw his first action in two games, grabbing three rebounds in five minutes off the bench.
Source : http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/sports/basketball/knicks-make-quick-work-of-pistons.html?ref%3Dbasketball