If anything, the win was a symbolic one. Whether it be the fans chanting New York Knicks or booing Lebron James on his home floor, this one screamed symbolism.

It was Amare Stoudemire slapping away James potential game tying layup in the final seconds that carried the most weight. Right there, on a floor that bore The Kings colors, Amare delivered a concrete message.

It was – you had your chance. Now get out of town. Only problem was, James had nowhere to go.   

The irony, almost hysterically so, was that the Knicks didn’t play all that well. The contrast between this and the last win at the Garden was staggering.

In fact, aside from two big runs, they were woefully outplayed. Sometimes two runs are all that’s needed.

Especially if they come at the right time.

This was the case at the end of the first half when the Knicks took the unlikeliest of one point leads thanks to a 16-0 charge. Earlier in the half, the Knicks found themselves down 15 points.

Then, after a third quarter in which Carmelo Anthony scored 9 of only thirteen New York tallies, the clutch crew came alive again. A 13-2 run that included the Stoudemire block and the Lebron James Miami boo-fest closed off a win that was nothing if not improbable.

Here are five more things from Sunday’s 91-86 win over Miami.

1. Chauncey Billups- If ever a storyline could be underrated and overstated (literally) at the same time, it’s the Billups acquisition. How many times during a Knick telecast do you hear this….

“You know, Carmelo Anthony is the big name, but Billups could prove to be just a valuable.”

I think it’s Kelly Tripuka’s favorite talking point. But it’s so true.

Chauncey had 16 points on Sunday night and hit a huge three pointer with 1:01 left to put the Knicks on top. He’s always been known as a player who can make big shots and this was no different.

His experience and basketball IQ is already on display, and to think he hasn’t been in the system one week.

You know, as much as people talk about Carmelo, I think the contributions of Billups will be just as important.

2. Defense-375 words into this bad boy and we have yet to mention that the Knicks held the Heat to 86 points on their home floor. While no one is ever going to accuse the Knicks of being defensively stout, it’s nice to see they can make big stops at big moments against big competition on the road.

Interesting note: listening to Mike D’Antoni’s presser, it seemed like some of the new guys had a “hey, we should probably play some defense” moment and, if for nothing but peer pressure from the cool new kids, the rest of the team joined in.

Hey, whatever works.

3. A poor shooting percentage- This is why the Knicks needed two big runs to win.

39% from the field. 27 % from behind the arc (8-30!)

Two ways to put a positive spin on this, and we will for the purposes of a victory recap.

One, we now know that the Knicks can win even while being  awful from three point land. This was a legitimate concern for most of the season.

Two, the low percentage could be a product of everyone getting used to each other, not being in the correct spots all the time, things like that…remember, you have to look at this as a 27 game season and it’s only the third game.

4. Anthony Carter- He was getting killed on Twitter tonight and rightfully so. Carter doesn’t seem like a guy that D’Antoni would play. He’s ancient and, to me, looks a little out of shape. This space hasn’t been kind to Toney Douglas this year, but Anthony Carter is not the answer.

5. Rebounding-Knicks won the rebounding battle 43-42. They only got eight offensive boards, but limited Miami’s second chances on the other end.

 It evens out.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have won eight games at The Q. Two of those wins came against the Knicks. Hey guys!, Lebron left this summer!  Has Mike D’Antoni forgotten to tell the team? Maybe he thought it would hurt morale, being that the “plan” was to dress Lebron in orange and blue.

It was a swift kick in the pants, if there ever was one. Apparently, acquiring one of the league’s best players doesn’t guarantee wins, even against the lowly Cavs. Think about this for a second: if you remove the Knick wins, Cleveland has yet to win double digit games.

Oh yeah, and they traded away Mo Williams, a guy people thought was good until 23 left town. Also, the guy Cleveland traded for – the always depressing Barron Davis- didn’t even play.

Want more from the season’s most head scratching performance? Here’s five things from the Knicks 115-109 loss to the Cavs….

1. Rebounding – That’s right, Cleveland is awful. But even awful teams win games when they win the rebounding battle by double digits. 62-42 was the official count, in favor of Lebron’s old club. Look no further than this stat for a reason why the Knicks are going to South Beach on a skid.

 The defensive glass was the real difference. The Cavs outrebounded New York 43-29 in this area. You can afford to get outrebounded against a bad team and still win, but not by that margin.

 And the voices saying “this team has no size” are singing.

 2. Ronny Turiaf – Piggybacking on the point above, Turiaf was really bad on Friday night. If his job is to stand in the post and clean glass (which, I’m sorry, it has to be), then how can he get away with two defensive rebounds. Sure, he had three on the offensive end, but isn’t Turiaf supposed to be more of a presence on the other end….and Renaldo Balkman wasn’t a big help either in eight minutes of sleepy basketball.

 3. Carmelo- Didn’t shoot a great percentage on Friday, but still “managed” 27 points and eight rebounds. Imagine how good he’ll be when he actually knows a lot of the plays! This is still exciting.

  Anthony cooled off after an unconscious first quarter and missed a big free throw late, but there’s always going to be some sort of a learning curve for a player two games into a new system. Now the attention shifts to his banged up elbow.  He isn’t scheduled for any tests and expects to play on Sunday night, but it’s something to keep an eye on.       

 4. Chauncy’s early foul trouble- Billups picked up two quick fouls and had to sit down in the first quarter. This really messed up the Knick offense early. In 29 minutes, the new point guard had 26 points and eight assists. He was also twelve of fourteen from the line. But those missed minutes early got the Knicks into a funk that they had a hard time climbing out of.

5. Free Throws- The Cavs went to the line 15 more times on Friday. Although the Knicks shot a better percentage, it’s important to note that giving a team 15 more free points is not a good strategy. I didn’t think the calls were all that tickey tack either. I’ve always thought that the idea of free throws having to be even was ridiculous. Maybe the Knicks were just fouling more. Hmmm?

The world can rotate again. The longest, most convoluted, and sometimes, most annoying story of 2011 is over. And, as these things tend to go, the most likely outcome is the eventual outcome.

Carmelo Anthony is a New York Knick. 

Here’s the details:

Knicks Give: Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov, and the 2014 first round pick

Knicks Get: Chauncey Billups, Sheldon Williams, Anthony Carter, Sheldon Williams, and Carmelo

Denver also gets the Warriors 2012 second round pick, the Warriors 2013 pick, and 3 million dollars

Don’t look too deep into this Knick fans, its a good move. Too many times in sports, fans try to be contrarian by saying they don’t like trades where a lot of players are switched for the sole purpose of the movement one gigantic piece – but here’s the reality- this was a move that HAD to be made.

The NBA is not a superstar league anymore. It’s a two superstar league. Look at the Lakers. Look at the Celtics. Look at the Heat. Teams that win have two bona fide greats in the starting lineup. Before Monday, the Knicks were missing one.

It had become dreadfully obvious over the past month that the Knicks, as they were constructed, were not going to win a playoff series. With the uncertainty of next years labor agreement looming and the realization by Anthony that he had to go and had to go now. Without a championship caliber team on the floor, whats the harm at continuing to build one in-season, even if you sacrifice a few games of chemestry in the process? You’re not building unless you’re building for a championship. And passing on a top 7-15 (depending on who you listen to) player isn’t building for a championship.

As much as the word leverage was thrown around in the last few days, people forgot that Denver had the ultimate leverage. They, at the end of the day, controlled the major piece. Once it became clear that Anthony had no interest in playing Russian roulette with the union, Denver had all the power. They weren’t going to get “Lebroned” because Carmelo had no interest in “lebroning” them. He wanted out now, and if it was New Jersey, well, close enough.

Ultimately he got what he wanted. So did the Nuggets.

But the biggest winner in all of this is the Knicks. Why?

They now have two.

Who needs an all – star? Of course, the sarcasm flowing through my fingers is palpable. There may be three or four teams that the Knicks would have beaten Saturday. The New Jersey Nets are one of those teams. Here are five things from the Knicks 105-95 win over the Nets.

1. From downtown! – The Knicks got  hot from behind the arc at the exact right time – twice. They started out the game launching them from triple range, scored 13 points in the third, then went unconscious in the fourth quarter. Toney Douglas hit some clutch threes (I know! Really!). Landry Fields hit a big one in the corner. Even Bill Walker pounded a few in from long range. Perhaps the only player that wasn’t good from behind the arc was Raymond Felton (1-6). Overall, the Knicks shot 16-34 (47%) from behind the arc. It was the only way they could win this game, which was evident early.

 2. If Amar’e misses any significant time this team will miss the playoffs – If that wasn’t already the most obvious statement in the league right now, it was after tonight. The absence of Stoudemire makes it even more imperative that three pointers fall. The lack of a low post, inside presence is so obvious when he’s not playing, that it’s almost hard to watch. It doesn’t sound like he’s going to miss any significant time, but if he does, uh-oh. Be my guest; take Mozgov and Turiaf banging down low for 48 minutes. Good luck with that.

 3. That being said…it was a good win – Any time a team gets a win on the road with its lifeblood superstar in street clothes, it’s something to celebrate. It doesn’t matter that it was the Nets, this team needed to beat anyone- if nothing else, to get some confidence in them with one game left until the break. Can you imagine if the team had lost tonight, while putting up a 13 spot in the third? The whole team may have been traded. They can win with Amar’e. They might one out of every five without him, but at least they can do it.

 4. Toney Douglas- He’s been killed so much in this space that he deserves some credit when he does well. Douglas was the MVP of the game. He looked in control of the offense. He scored 19 points in 21 minutes. He was an asset. Douglas was who we thought he’d be. Nice to see.

 5. Say what you want about the Nets…- but the broadcasts are sooooo much better. I watched the YES feed tonight with Ian Eagle and Jim Spinarkle and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Here’s the thing about MSG – If Breen is not on the broadcast, it’s not good. I’ve never thought Clyde was insightful enough to carry a broadcast with a boring play by play man. Too often, the MSG broadcasts are boring, especially a Saturday night slop fest in New Jersey. Eagle and Spinarkle was a nice change.

Another tough loss for the Knicks on Friday night. This time, however, it provided more head scratching moments and heartbreak then a run of the mill blow out. Here are 5 things from New York’s 100-98 loss to the 76ers.

 1.  Why is Shawne Williams taking the last shot – If Mike D’Antoni has one weakness (and many will argue that it’s way more than one), it’s been poor end of game management. While the good ol’ Mike D head “what the blank was that” call hasn’t made an appearance in a few weeks, it was out in full force in the city of brotherly love on Friday night.

 After Philadelphia took a two point lead, Williams had the ball in his hand and missed an ugly runner that would have tied the game. Obvious question: Why was the ball in Williams hand in that crucial a moment? For this, I have no answer.

 Although Danilo Gallinari was 1-4 from behind the arc, he had hit a big three in the final two minutes. He would have been a better option. Raymond Felton had one of his better nights in weeks. He would have been a better option. Amar’e Stoudemire is, well, Amar’e Stoudemire. He would have been a better option.

 But no, it went to Williams.

 And why was it a runner? If he’s going to take the final shot, why wouldn’t he shoot the ball where he received it- behind the three point line? After all, he leads the league in three point percentage and had hit one earlier in the quarter. Instead, he chose the path of awkwardness and lost.

 All questions, no answers.

 2. The run – But at the end of the day, you have to score in the fourth quarter of close games. The Knicks, after falling behind early in the game, looked to have this one in hand. They led by 12 at the start of the final period and led by eight with under 10 minutes to go.

 Then they stopped scoring.

 Stoudemire hit a jumper with 8:47 left, giving the Knicks an 86-78 lead. They didn’t hit another shot until Raymond Felton made it 93-88 Sixers with 2:33 left. That’s over six minutes in a close fourth quarter with no points scored.

 Games are never won with this formula. Never

 3. Raymond Felton – Nice to see Felton play like it’s December again. The point guard had 26 points and nine assists. He also, as previously mentioned, broke the fourth quarter scoring drought. The point total was the most he’s had since the victory over San Antonio on January 4. It may have been nice to see him take less threes while going three of eight from downtown, but that’s something that can be overlooked with 26 and nine. This is the third time in four games he’s had nine or more assists.

 4. Bench play – The Knicks got above average production off the bench. Timofey Mozgov had 9 points and 7 rebounds. Mozgov’s recent success brings up an interesting question. Should Mike D’Antoni let Mozgov fight through his struggles on the floor a little more than he did (straight up benching him for basically two months. It’s obvious he has something to offer. Mike D has to learn that sometimes rookies don’t play well for long stretches. That’s not necessarily a reason to bench them.   

 Elsewhere on the bench, Ronnie Turiaf has eight points. Wilson Chandler played 20 minutes in his return and scored three points.

 5. Three point shooting – While the percentages weren’t great on either side from behind the arc, it’s worth noting that one team was 5-13 from three point land and won the game. Those other guys? 8-27.

  See the difference?

It was one of the weirder second halves you’ll ever see. It was a blowout. Then, in a blink of an eye, it wasn’t. Then, in an equally long blink, back to a blowout. The Knicks had fight for most of the first half, arguable outplaying the Mavs on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. Then they lost that fight, magically regained it, and lost it again. I think the Knicks were blown out. But I’m not 100% sure….

Here are 5 things from the Knicks 113-97 *fill in adjective* loss to Dallas….

1. Rebounding – Here’s one thing that wasn’t at all confusing from Wednesday night – the Knicks were atrocious on the boards. It’s hard to stay in games being out rebounded by 20 (54-34). Dallas had exactly double the amount of offensive rebounds and held a 44-29 advantage on the defensive glass. However, in a statistical oddity, the Knicks took more shots (thanks to the pace, no doubt), but were  mostly limited to one and done possessions.

 2. Welcome back, three point woes – This thing about those one and done possessions was that they rarely ended up with the Mavs inbounding the basketball. New York shot 6-23 from behind the arc. They also made two of their final three triples, padding the already awful stat. This brings back the Knicks major fatal flaw – they are very poor at making in game adjustments. The common thread to losses (especially ones of this nature) seem to be a poor three point shooting percentage combined with a large number of three point attempts. If this team can’t find other ways to score on nights the threes don’t fall, they do not win. Period.

 3. Amar’e Stoudemire – This was one of his worst games in a while. 21 points, 5 rebounds, 10-20 shooting. He also missed a dunk in the third quarter when the Knicks were mounting a mini comeback. He’s clearly hurting and that’s the elephant in the room. Is he debilitating hurt? I don’t think so. But the knees are clearly bothering him. The Knicks aren’t going to be able to survive too many 21 point, 50% shooting nights from Amar’e.

 4. Ball control – It was solid. The Knicks only had won first half turnover and won the overall T.O battle by 7. It was not a loss caused by sloppiness. If the Knicks shoot well from behind the arc, this is a different game – even with the rebounding woes.

 5. Positives – A few players that would be individually mentioned had this been a win/closer game. Danilo Gallinari looked dominant at times. He finished with 27 points and was 12-12 from the line. If he wasn’t off from behind the arc (1-5), this would be talked about as a career top 5 game for Gallinari, maybe even higher.

 Toney Douglas had his best game in a long time. 22 points, 3 assists, 0 turnovers in 28 minutes. This Toney needs to show up more often.        

 *Bonus note: If you missed it, the lineup on the floor towards the end of the game was this: Gallinari, Douglas, Mozgov, Routins, and Walker…. It was the first Routins sighting since January 7. Prior to that, his last action came on November 27. Fun fact: The Knicks are 1-3 when Routins sees minutes. He’s played 15 minutes this year…and I got guff for criticizing the pick….

Ever wonder?

I know I have. Find out tonight when Amar’e Stoudemire’s personal chef, Chef Max, joins my buddies Matt Soldano and Bryan Galluchi on the Sportswire at 6:30pm (est). Listen to it here (wcwpsports.com) or 88.1FM if you live on Long Island….

Meanwhile, here are some links to read. Do it!

Amar’e played through pain. What a warrior! – Ny Daily News

However, the warrior says he’s ok – Real GM  

Whats the biggest news from Mozgov’s huge night last night….trade bait – ESPN

More on Mozgov’s big night -Ny Times 

Knicks have hired former Nugget GM Mark Warkentian as a consultant – Real GM

No truth to the rumor that MSG is being renamed The Pepsi Center @ MSG, however The Carrior Dome @ MSG is still in play.

Houston getting some love at U of Tenn. - Real GM

Should the Knicks follow suit? He did get them three wins away from a championship…. Leave a comment….

Hyperbole. 98% of sportswriters will be guilty of it at least once in their career. I know I have been and will, as one of my next statements may indicate, be guilty of it in the future. Why is this the case? I think it’s a subconscious desire for everything we do/cover/write about to be monumental, or important it some sense. It stems from the old theory that sportswriters really wish they were playing and never dealt with athletic failure, yada, yada yada.

 So excuse me as I write this next sentence- Thursday nights win over the Heat was the biggest regular season win of the year, maybe even longer. It wasn’t just because of the win; it’s the way it happened.

 Even though Chris Bosh was on the bench, the Knicks performance was impressive enough to come home from The Worlds Most Famous… in awe of the home team.

 The Knicks didn’t just beat the Heat last night- that’s reason enough to celebrate- they dominated the Heat last night. Just when it looked like Miami was starting to control the pace of play, New York took it over. The fourth quarter was all about disrupting the transition game.

 Mike D’Antoni and company realized that the Knicks weren’t going to beat the Heat at there own game. New York was going to have to change things up by limiting points in the paint and keep the Heat offense behind them, not in front. They truly adapted to this style better then anyone could have hoped.

 Holding the Heat to 88 points while Dwayne Wade shoots lights out is impressive enough, but holding them to 40 points in the paint, thus forcing them to take outside shots was equally so. The Heat also had only 18 points coming off fast breaks. For an offense that thrives off creating turnovers to force the break, that’s a good number. Also, the Knicks forced 17 turnovers. That’ll win you a lot of games.

 Stat of the night: Lebron James – 24 points ON 7-24 shooting. So much for the whole “Lebron is always awesome in MSG” theory.

 Offensively, the Knicks weren’t half bad, either. Landry Fields had his best game in a while.  19 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists. I guess he forgot he’s on the trading block (for Carmelo, and only Carmelo…don’t worry) for one night. Landry was also 4-4 from the line       and hit a huge three pointer late in the game.

 Talk about three pointers and you have to mention Danilo Gallinari. He hit his biggest shot since returning from the injury, another three late in the fourth, on his way to 20 points.

 The reason why Thursday was such a big win was because it was a team win. On a night where Amar’e Stoudemire was named the first Knick All-Star starter since Ewing in 92, he wasn’t the story. Although STAT put up a solid numbers, it was what the others around him did that won the Knicks the game.

This is how the Knicks won in December. This is how they’ll have to win in May.

 Good idea to start now.

The long six game slide is over. The Knicks defeated the woeful Washington Wizards on Monday night 115-106. Here are, after a little, unintended, absence from this space, the 5 things…..

1. Wilson Chandler slowly coming out of his slump – Percentage-wise it wasn’t a great night from Wilson, but he’ll take it. Of all the Knicks slumping during the losing streak, Chandler’s woes were the most pronounced. Chandler had 25 points on 9-20 shooting. He also had seven rebounds. Having him get back on track would be huge with a few big games coming up.

 2. Raymond Felton – Huge game from Felton. The formula is simple – if he plays well, the Knicks generally win. Felton had 17 points and 15 assists. Prior to Monday, he hadn’t had double digit assist numbers since the MLK day loss to Phoenix. Overall, it was the most he’s had since December 12^th vs Denver. Although not as pronounced as prior matchups, he outplayed John Wall once again.

 3. The bench – Outside of Toney Douglas, I thought the play off the bench was good last night. They got 22 from four players, including nine points and five rebounds from Ronny Turiaf. The big man also had two blocks.

 But something has to be done about the backup point guard spot. Toney Douglas is way too inconsistent for such an important position. If the six game slide shows anything, it’s not that the Knicks need to go out and trade for Carmelo Anthony, it’s that they need to go out and find another point guard to spell Felton. Douglas was one for six on Monday, scored three points, and dished out three assists. 

 This is not going to cut it late in the season. Point guard depth, or lack thereof, will kill the Knicks if they don’t do something fast.    

 4. Second half defense – Or rather, fourth quarter defense. This game was way too close for way too long. It looked like the Knicks might have been in for another Kings/Suns style embarrassment. But, to their credit, the buckled down in the fourth and made stops when they had to. The Knicks allowed 15 points in the fourth, 11 less than they had in any other quarter. What a difference that is from the other night in OKC!

 5. Building on it – This win came at a perfect time. With two tough games coming up in back to back fashion later in the week (Miami and Atlanta), they couldn’t carry a long losing streak into that. Raymond Felton needed to have this kind of game. Wilson Chandler needed to have this kind of game. The team needed to make a few defensive stops, even if it was against the Wizards. If nothing else, for confidence sake. That confidence that exuded throughout the month of December just hasn’t been their in 2011.   Monday night, it began to return.

First thought after yesterday’s loss to the Suns – “what’s the excuse this time?”

Not that the players were making it, they weren’t – but the media was.

The Utah loss last Wednesday was “well, they’re looking ahead, they want to get home.” Ok, plausible

The Kings loss on Friday – “Hey, long west coast swing! Of course they’re going to come out flat.” Ok, plausible (although we would have bought it more had they not mailed in the Utah game)

After yesterday, I was half expecting MSG to come down with the “day games are tough.” line.

Here’s the truth: the defense in the last few games has been a step slower then it was towards the beginning of the road trip. It was seen in the first quarter on the Suns loss to a major degree and never recovered. Even Amar’e Stoudemire didn’t look good on the defensive end yesterday, despite 41 points.

One thing that was good to see was the play of Danilo Gallinari. He showed almost no ill-effects from the injury. He had pep in his step and looked healthier than many of the other players who didn’t spend the last two weeks on the bench. Sometimes a player struggles to get back in the swing of things athletically when they return from the sidelines- Gallo didn’t. Good to see.

If the current roster has hit the mid-season wall, as it’s looked in the last few days, Gallo and Amar’e might have to carry this team for the next few weeks.

Here are some links

Mitch Lawerence tells us why the Knicks are struggling – NY Daily News  

This is interesting. The need for a backup point guard was whispered around Knick land early in the season, but now it’s becoming evident. If Felton is “tired” playing 39-40 minutes a night now, imagine what kind of ghost he’ll be come April. Toney Douglas, while not as awful as he was early in the season, hasn’t been the spark off the bench that he looked to be towards the end of the 2009-2010 season. When does it get to a point where the Knicks stop going after something they dont need right now (Carmelo) and start going after something they do (someone to spell Felton)?

Allan Houston voted “player of the decade” – NY Post.

Houston is my all time favorite Knick. I grew up in the late 1990′s, towards the end of Ewing’s greatness. My greatest single Knick memory is Houston’s shot at the end of game five against the Heat in 1999. To this day, I don’t think I’ve ever jumped higher. A close second is the Larry Johnson four – point play later in those playoffs, but I hated the Heat so much that the Houston shot is a no brainer – as is this honor.  

Knicks have no defense for such miserable play – NY Post

Interesting stuff from D’Antoni about this being a “wake up call.” It goes back to the excuses point. The next few games will be interesting. Will the Knicks respond to the last week like they did after the last bad stretch of the year (remember the loss to the Rocket’s in Novemember, also at MSG….also in the day time) or is this the beginning of a sub par second half?

Knicks lack tough defense of old – NY Times

Mainstream game recap of the day – ESPN

Enjoy the rest of Tuesday.