Knicks Fall to Pacers

Kevin Garnett can say horrible things to Carmelo Anthony and when Anthony wants to discuss those comments, he gets suspended. That is the hypocrisy of the NBA, folks. The Knicks traveled to Indian and Pacers the Pacers without Anthony. Investigators are still trying to figure out why.

Both teams shot terribly. Both teams' field goal percentages were in the 30s and three point percentages were in the 20s. It felt more like a weather report in Indiana than a battle between top Eastern Conference teams.The Knicks just happened to shoot worse.

J.R> Smith (29 FGA, 25 points), Amar'e Stoudemire 11 FGA, 9 pts), Jason Kidd (10 FGA, 8 pts), Chris Copeland (9 FGA, 8 pts), and Marcus Camby (9 FGA, 7 pts) were among the Knicks who amassed more shots from the field than points scored.

The lone highlight for the Knicks came when J.R. smith stretched out and dunked the ball in the first half. The aftermath of the game saw Charles Barkley criticize the Knicks lack of rebounding prowess. The Knicks outrebounded the Pacers and grabbed more offensive rebounds 19-12.

It's true the Knicks are in the bottom third in rebound differential. But they have more offensive rebounds than their opponents. So the rebounding differential comes on the defensive end. But it's a mirage. The Knicks and their opponents shoot a similar field goal percentage. So how the Knicks have more offensive rebounds than their opponents and fewer defensive rebounds if they shoot a similar percentage.

It's obvious. The Knicks are first in the league in turnover differential by a wide margin. The Knicks take more shots than their opponents  That means there will be more offensive rebounding opportunities for the Knicks and more defensive rebounding opportunities for their opponents. So, when you look inside the numbers, it's clear the Knicks are not a weak rebounding team. They simply have fewer defensive rebounding chances than their opponents because they're such so good and forcing turnovers and ball control.

But it didn't help them much against the Pacers. In addition to poor shooting, it was one of the few games in which the Knicks not only committed more turnovers than their opponents, but committed more than threes made. The Pacers won 81-76. The Knicks are now 23-12. If the NBA can fine the Spurs for not playing all of their star players in a nationally televised game for no apparent reason earlier in the season, the NBA should be fined for suspending Anthony during a nationally televised game for no apparent reason. But the NBA won't do this because the league offices are filled with hypocrites.