Knicks trying for a little payback vs. Celtics
Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo drives past New York Knicks' Carmelo Anthony (7) during the second quarter. (Feb. 3, 2012) Credit: AP
GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- It's a new season and a new team, Carmelo Anthony repeated.
But it soon became clear that past shortcomings still sting.
The Knicks forward insisted that Sunday afternoon's game in Boston is about starting a four-game road trip on a positive note and trying to position the team higher in the Eastern Conference standings. But the more he spoke, the more he divulged the importance of payback.
"We want to beat them. We want to beat them tomorrow. That's our mind-set," he said after Saturday's practice. " . . . In the back of our minds, we know what happened last year in the playoffs. That was last year, and we want to start it over right now."
The Celtics swept the Knicks in four games in the first round of last season's playoffs, although Amar'e Stoudemire, sidelined for much of the series because of a back injury, noted that the Knicks had a chance to win each of the first two games at TD Garden.
Last month, the Knicks squandered yet another opportunity to beat the Celtics on their home court in a 91-89 loss. The Knicks held a 12-point lead in the third quarter and had three chances in the last 41 seconds to tie the score or go ahead. "They got away with one last time we played them up at their place, so we want go out there and redeem ourselves," Anthony said.
However, much has changed since that Feb. 3 meeting. "Lin-sanity" -- inspired by point guard Jeremy Lin -- had yet to reach dramatic heights and the Knicks did not have backup point guard Baron Davis and shooting guard J.R. Smith, who was signed late last month.
After the loss to the Celtics, the Knicks were 8-15, with 11 losses in 13 games, and Boston was 12-10. But since then the teams have gone in opposite directions. The Knicks are 18-18 and Boston is 18-17.
"It's changed a little bit. Just a hair," coach Mike D'Antoni joked with reporters.
Said Stoudemire: "We're a better team now. We're more deep. Obviously, we signed J.R. Smith and Baron's back and Jeremy's playing well, so we have a different look now."
He and Anthony insisted that despite their record, the Celtics still are one of the best teams in the league. "We have a great opportunity to do something special," Stoudemire said. "And we can get a chance to measure ourselves against Boston."
Games against the Celtics always are physical and supply plenty of intrigue, D'Antoni said. "We're both fighting for the seventh and eighth spot right now,'' he said. "They have higher aspirations, so do we. So this is a home game for them that I'm sure they feel like they have to have. And we can measure ourselves. And just because it's Boston, it adds a little extra spice because they beat us last year, 4-0. There are a lot of little subplots."
