Defending NBA champs too much for the Knicks

The New York Knicks entered TD Banknorth Garden with a bitter taste in their mouths.  Last season on a Thursday night TNT national broadcast the Boston Celtics embarrassed the Knicks in a 45-point blowout victory en route to a championship later that season.  It was hard to stomach as the Knicks looked foolish on national TV, if people even could handle watching the whole game.

Last night, however, the Knicks walked into a Kevin Garnett-less Celtics team, who has learned quickly that they have a bounty on their head as defending champions to the league.  KG was suspended for hitting Milwaukee's big man Andrew Bogut in the face over the weekend.  Many Celtics fans and teammates find the one-game suspension to be ridiculous, but it is now in the history books.

The Knicks found no redemption after last year's blowout, losing 110-101 to Boston Tuesday night.  New York came out and played a strong first quarter, but looked like the team of old to close the half and left people with concerns of a meltdown.  They were able to bounce back late in the game, bringing the score to within four points with two minutes to play, but Boston held off the rally. With the win Boston moves to 10-2 on the season with a 3.5 game cushion in the division over the Knicks, who now have lost two of their past three games.

Wilson Chandler led all Knicks Tuesday night with 23 points on 11-23 shooting, adding 7 rebounds.  Zach Randolph, who is has been consistent of late with his double doubles, posted 18 points and 8 rebounds, falling short for the first time in the past five games.  The Knicks entered Tuesday night as the highest scoring team in the league, posting 105 points per contest.  They also lead the league in 3-pointers attempted and made.  In Tuesday night's game, the Knicks shot 30% from beyond the arc (9-30), a stat that may suggest the Knicks were looking too much for the deep ball and not enough in the paint.  Mike D'Antoni is upset about the team's lack of defense as they surrender almost as many points as they score.  If the team wants to be a championship contender this season they will need to play both sides of the ball, and not expect to win every shootout.

The Knicks will travel to Milwaukee on Friday to play the Bucks, who should be without their Olympian Michael Redd, sidelined by a sprained ankle he suffered against the Knicks earlier this season.

Also, starting next week I will be doing a daily segment for ideas on the holiday season that approaches.  I will suggest eight gifts for the eight crazy nights of Chanukah, which begins at sundown on December 22.