40 Point 2nd Quarter for Magic Seals Knicks Fate

It doesn't really help the Knicks chances of winning when their superstar/franchise savior gets into early foul trouble. And it also doesn't help when a team cannot seem to rebound the ball effectively when we already know defense is not really the Knicks forte.  So I guess the Knicks fate was sealed in the second quarter in more ways than one. The final score was 112-103 at the Amway Center, as Orlando handed the Knicks their 4th loss in 5 games.

A blog written by Timofey Mozgov stated (the full article in english),

 "After the Cleveland game where I got another DNP – Coach’s decision, I have read – yet another time – that Mozgov is losing is losing the trust of the coach.

I’ll say this: on my part there’s no panic!

First of all, I’ll repeat myself: coach has talked several times about the different rotation schemes. Second, we have talked with him about it, even though briefly. He promised to get me back on the court, and I have no reason not to trust him. Third, I think right now he’s just found the game he was looking for and that got us rolling.

This tempo and playing style have helped us win eight straight games. And, by the way, it also helped to calm down [Amar'e Stoudemire] who got a little disappointed. Did you read anything new about him not being happy? There you go. And morale of the leader is very important."

Now, I commend Timofey for downplaying his whole "DNP" situation, however I, myself am now questions coach Mike D'Antoni's use of the rotation. I admit, I was very delighted to see the Knicks go on the 9 game "dream streak", but the minutes that Raymond Felton and Stoudermire were posting did worry me, along with others.  So we now have three centers on the bench, (Ronny Turiaf is is only seeing about 12 mins on the court) and a very talented, but raw Anthony Randolph rotting away on the bench while the Knicks get out  rebounded just about every night. By no means am I saying that Randolph would be our rebounding savior, but I think the guy should get some playing time to help him develop so he can potentially help in the areas the Knicks are deficient  in, such as rebounding. It maybe the fear that if Randolph gets injured, he will lose trade value and in the end, ruin our chance of bring Carmelo Anthony back home to the Garden.  But news around the league is that lack of the playing time is actually hurting his value.

All in all, the Knicks played ok after the second quarter, with major contributions from Amar'e who had 30 points on 12 of 22 shooting and Wilson Chandler who scored 29. Dwight Howard scored 24 and added 18 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu added 17 points while JJ Redick and Ryan Anderson scare 17 off the bench.
However after watching us get annihilated on the glass, I think D'Antoni needs to tinker a little more with this line up to strengthen the Knicks presence on the glass otherwise, there will be more losses to come.