In his first playoff game as a Knick, Carmelo Anthony posted 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. That’s not a terrible line, but one look at his crunch time stats — 0-for-3 (all three-pointers) and two turnovers in the final 5:05 — reveals that he did not play well down the stretch. In fact, he was pretty much a no-show in the entire second half, scoring just three points on 1-for-11 shooting (0-5 from 3PT).
Carmelo has to play better if the Knicks are going to win tight games against the grizzled Celtics, who won the game, 87-85.
As bad as Anthony played, Amare Stoudemire was rolling. He posted 28 points (on 12-of-18 shooting) and 11 rebounds, and it’s a mystery why the Knicks didn’t go to him more down the stretch.
