Hawks vs Knicks: Game Grades
By Josh Lane
ATLANTA, GA – APRIL 3: Carmelo Anthony #7 of the New York Knicks drives to the basket against the Atlanta Hawks on April 3, 2013 at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2013 NBAE (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images)
Game Grades: Each player is given a grade on an A+ through F scale based upon their performance.
Atlanta Hawks
Jeff Teague: C
Teague didn’t take too many outside shots and was determined to get into the lane, as he finished with 15 points and nine assists. However, he had six turnovers and showed an inability to defend NY’s pick-and-roll.
Kyle Korver: A
Korver was basically the only offensive threat for Atlanta. He put on a 3-point shooting clinic, hitting 6-of-10 from deep, and finished with 25 points, six rebounds and two blocks. Korver also had one hell of a defensive game, cutting off the oppositions path to the bucket on multiple occasions and forcing a couple takeaways with his active hands.
DeShawn Stevenson: C-
DeShawn was average at best, and even that might be a stretch. He’s known as a defender but kept getting beat by Melo time after time. He finished with five points, on five shot attempts, in 25 minutes of action. Thanks, DeShawn. Go rest your knees.
Josh Smith: C-
Josh Smith aka J-Smoove was anything but smooth against the Knicks. He struggled to find his shot (5/13 overall, including 0/3 from the perimeter), and was especially putrid from the foul-line as he missed ALL seven of his attempts. Smith did a decent job holding Melo, but saying that might be a stretch just as it was in DeShawn’s case since Melo finished with 40 points.
Al Horford: D
Big Al was a non-factor Wednesday. Seriously, it was like he disappeared. He only managed nine points, which snaps his streak of 32 straight games scoring in double-figures, and seven rebounds in 38 minutes. Terrible.
Shelvin Mack: C+
Shelvin actually played well, unlike most of his teammates, but there were a few possessions where he took ill advised shots or threw careless passes. However, he led the reserves in points (8) and minutes (20), while shooting 50 percent from the field.
Dahntay Jones: D
Tried hard on defense but was just another victim of Melo. Shot 0-2 overall in 11 minutes. Non-factor.
Anthony Tolliver: C-
Another tough night defensively, but he did hit both shots he took so there’s that.
Ivan Johnson: C+
Difficult to grade Ivan because he’s in the lineup basically to just fight. But as always, he has a couple of plays that make you want to scream, like committing a turnover on a fast break by dribbling the ball off his foot in the third quarter. However, he did make a few small contributions like five points, one rebound, one steal and one assist.
New York Knicks
Raymond Felton: C+
Felton was getting beat by Teague early, but there were a few possessions where he really worked the pick-and-role well. He scored six straight points in a key spurt in the fourth quarter that served as the turning point for the Knicks as they began to pull away. Felton scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth and added five boards, three helpers and three thefts overall.
Pablo Prigioni: D
Pablo got the start but played the least amount of minutes (excluding Copeland’s two minutes of floor time). He only took four shots, all of which were 3-pointers, and made two of them.
Iman Shumpert: C-
Shump probably had the worst game amongst the Knicks players. Mike Woodson seemingly wanted to strangle him as he was shown barking at Shump on a few occasions during timeouts for letting the best 3-pointer in the game roam free behind the arc. Korver made him look stupid by draining six 3-pointers. Because of that, Woodson cut Shump’s minutes in the second half and played Kidd and J.R. down the stretch.
Carmelo Anthony: A+
My goodness, he hit just about everything he threw up (17-27). Many of the shots were contested, but he was practically unstoppable. 40 points on Wednesday following Tuesday’s 50-point game. Enough said.
Tyson Chandler: F
I know he is recovering from an injury, but the reigning Defensive Player of the Year had zero blocks and just four rebounds. He wasn’t much better on offense, scoring two points in 24 minutes.
Jason Kidd: B
Kidd held scoreless, but managed to help out the team in other areas with seven assists, five rebounds and one steal.
J.R. Smith: B+
J.R. couldn’t find his shot early in the game (credit DeShawn and Jones on defensive), but he picked it up in the second half when he had Shelvin Mack guarding him. Smith scored 10 points in the final quarter and finished with 19 total.
Steve Novak: C
Novak’s only good for one thing: shooting. The fact that he was 3-of-3 from the perimeter means he did his job.
Kenyon Martin: B
K-Mart did his job (like Novak) by injecting toughness down low with Chandler still trying to get his legs back. Martin finished with one point, one steal, two fouls and nine rebounds (four offensive) in 24 minutes.