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Al Harrington has exploded under D'Antoni's offense
Al Harrington just may be the best player in the Knicks front court. After being traded for about a month ago, Harrington has exploded in the uptempo offense averaging close to 26 points per game.
Saturday night was no different. The Knicks scored 43 points in the first quarter in route to a blowout 114-90 victory in Sacramento. Harrington put up 11 straight points in the third quarter to slow down the Kings as they began cutting into the Knicks lead. He finished the game with 33 points and 6 rebounds on 55% FG shooting (11-20) and 5 3-pointers. This was also his second straight 30+ point game. David Lee made his return after leaving the game against New Jersey with a lower back injury with another double-double effort of 17 points and 19 rebounds.
It was also good to see that Nate Robinson made his return from a sore groin, and was inserted into the starting lineup as teammate Q-Rich was unavailable due to the flu. Robinson contributed 19 points in 33 minutes of play. The team sent 10 players out onto the court Saturday, which has been the most D'Antoni has played in any game this season.
With the retirement of Cuttino Mobley the Knicks have an open roster spot to fill. With disgruntled guard Stephon Marbury still on the shelf, it may be time for Walsh to take serious action and start shopping around to not only deploy Marbury elsewhere, but to fill the void in the lineup.
The Knicks after losing six consecutive road games have now won two straight as they prepare for Monday when they face the Phoenix Suns. For D'Antoni this may mean more than just a road game, as he returns to his old team for the first time after coaching the Suns for the past 4 seasons.
The Suns have wasted no time changing the pace of the team with the move they made earlier in the week to bring the explosive Jason Richardson to the team. With Shaquille O'Neal being the center of attention in Porter's offensive scheme, the Suns do not explode off the ball like they did under D'Antoni's system. Nevertheless, the Suns are still a playoff caliber team.
The Knicks are beginning to get healthy, are getting into rhythm and seem poised to make a run in the Eastern Conference. Look for Monday nights game to be another high scoring affair, but look for D'Antoni to make a statement as he returns to his former team.
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