If you’re looking for a fresh start, there’s nothing quite like the power of a new year in the NBA.
Last season, the Knicks used a late December break in the schedule to regroup before flying to San Antonio on New Year’s Day. Iman Shumpert and Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points apiece the following night as they beat the eventual NBA champion Spurs, sparking a 6-1 run over the next two weeks that would vault the Knicks back into the Eastern Conference playoff race as the calendar turned to 2014.
When you’re winning, the New Year offers the chance to toast a strong start as the long road to the postseason begins to come into focus.
One of our most anticipated matchups comes this Dec. 31, when the Knicks intend to be in the latter category as they square off with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and the Clippers.
Doc Rivers’ squad won 57 games and finished with the best offensive rating in the league last season. DeAndre Jordan took a giant leap forward, becoming the NBA’s leading rebounder and anchor of a top-10 defense. With frontcourt additions Spencer Hawes and Ekpe Udoh, and some depth on the wings for the first time in years, L.A.’s status as a bona fide contender gives this matchup obvious juice.
The game will mark the end of the Knicks’ first west coast trip of the season – a challenging test in its own right that starts with a back-to-back in Sacramento and Portland. After two days to prepare, they’ll tip off at 3 p.m. local time. How will they respond against one of the league's best?
Will we see Melo and Blake go head to head? How will the Knicks defend Paul, Griffin and Jordan in the pick-and-roll? Can the Knicks protect the paint?
Add to the storylines leading up to this one: if things fall into place, there’s a chance that the Knicks offense could be quite good by this point in the season. With the addition of Jose Calderon (44.9 3P% last season) to a stable of dead-eye shooters that includes Pablo Prigioni (46.4), Anthony (40.2), J.R. Smith (39.4) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (36.3), Derek Fisher could conceivably play four outside threats on the floor together. That could spell trouble for teams like the Clippers, whose biggest weakness last season was defending the perimeter.