NBA 2k9 New York Knicks Game 2

New York @ 75 85 80 Philidelphia 70 73 71 Phili Lineup: S. Hunter, D. Lee, C. Anthony, R. Hamilton, TJ. Ford Bench - D. Stevenson, S. Cassell, A. Walker, S. May, I. Udoka, Heading into this one I was pretty confident when I saw my opponents team ratings, especially considering i'd taken it right up to Miami in last night's game. I decided to move Granger to SG to start against Hamilton and inserted Ryan Gomes to matchup against Melo - thinking Sasha would get totally burnt by Rip. The game stayed close for the first quarter and a bit, but as the 2nd quarter progressed a mixture of poor shots and stupid turnovers, plus a total inability to keep Melo quiet saw the Sixers begininning to build some nice seperation. I considered myself lucky to be down by 12 at the half. Checking the stats at the half i knew my D needed improving. How could i let a team only rated 70 on offense shoot 69% from the field? Bccause I am crap obviously. Anyway as the second half got underway the only shining light was that i seemed to have the Sixers relatively shallow front court in foul trouble. As Hunter - who had blocked several shots already (5 total for the game) picked up his 4th foul that brought Walker in. As we all know he is a bit of deusch so I thought i'd do alright. What do you know? He comes out and goes bang, bang, bang. 9 quick points and I'm nearly down by 20. Thankfully, with a small front court - KG was beginning to assert himself in the paint, while Maxiell also reaped the rewards of the smaller Sixers - who for some reason moved away from playing May, and started playing Stevenson at PF. Mo Cheeks and the run and gun Sixers. Hmmm. Some full court pressure saw me turn things round in a hurry and i was only down by 6 with 1 Q remaining. I tied it up a few times, but the Sixers still seemed to have the edge. Marquis Daniels was proving useful off the bench. He managed to get to the line 4 times (going 7-8) for 9 points for the game. While KG was resting he seemed to be my only real scoring threat. I could not get Granger or Vujacic going at all - while Stuckey couldnt find space in the lane as he did last time. Calderon once again was doing nothing. If Vujacic and Calderon dont proved they could be put on the trading block real soon. With 2 minutes to go i was right with the Knicks - as we traded baskets and the lead. KG was dominating with Stuckey feeding him well of the pick and roll. Ahead by 1 and 1 minute remaining the Sixers had the ball, but seemed out of sorts in their 1/2 court offense. David Lee had the ball on the wing well out of his range and as the shot clock winded down he pasesed to Steven Hunter who was froced to jack up an ugly three from the top. Rebound to me and headed down court thinking i should wind some clock before getting it inside. However Granger was open beyond the arc at the top - the first opening anyone had from the outside all game - he connnected from downtown to give me a 4 point lead and i thought this was well in hand. After converting another turnover for an easy transitition deuce i had a 6 point lead. And the game was mine - i wont mention the cruddy 3 point play by Melo thanks to KG's foul that brought them back to 3 points down. Game Final New York def. 27 23 33 35 118 Philidelphia 29 33 27 24 113 Jordan Brand Player of the Game: Kevin Garnett - 46 points (20-26 FG), 9 rebs, 2 stls, 2 blks Top Performers: New York J. Maxiell - 18 points (9-10 FG), 5 boards R. Stuckey - 10 points, 14 assists, 3 steals D. Granger - 16 points, 4 rebs, 2 steals, 2 blocks Philidelphia C. Anthony - 31 points (13-14 FG), 4 assists, 2 steals TJ Ford - 23 points, 11 assists DUD of the Night - Jose Calderon - 3-10 FG - 7 points, 4 assists in 22 minutes. Team stats were pretty even across the board. 39-20 bench points my way and also a 90-68 points in the paint advantage too. My apologies to Trevor Ariza - I will get you on the court next game. I realise you di relatively well last time in sparing minutes and that you are a prospect.