Written by Demetri Inembolidis

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The New York Knicks (7-11) have a combined 12 all star appearances compared to the 2 by the Cleveland Cavaliers (7-10).  The Knicks have 3 guys who are making money in the territory of the maximum contract allowed by the NBA.  The Cavs are in the middle of a rebuilding project that has shed salary.  New York City is a market that star players want to play in and Cleveland is not as desirable.  Despite all of these commonly accepted factors, the Cavs appear to be in a better situation moving forward than the Knicks.  

The Knicks are struggling.  Mike D’Antoni is supposed to be an offensive-minded coach, yet they came into Wednesday night’s game with the 29th worst field goal percentage in the NBA.  To make matters worse, their defensive field goal percentage is rated 20th out of 30 teams.  The Knicks have a lot of problems, but the root of them start with the fact that they spent all of their cap space on a small forward, power forward and center.  They do not have any wing players who are above average.  When Iman Shumpert is designated the starting point guard and expected to run an offense so early in his career, your team is fundamentally flawed.  

Considering the star power on the Knicks and the amount of salary paid, it is unacceptable that they have lost 7 of their last 8 games.  If the playoffs were to start tomorrow, the Cavs would be in the playoffs and the Knicks would be in the lottery.  This is something that few people would have predicted before the season.  Whether the Knicks are struggling because of a poorly-constructed roster or coaching is a moot point.  The Knicks are almost a finished product and they need to figure out a way to win with the team that they have.  Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire need to figure out a way to be more effective together because they are both under contract with the Knicks for a long period of time.

Kyrie Irving set the tone for the game by being pretty passive on the offensive end.  He was looking to setup his teammates more than score and the end-result was 4 Cavaliers in double-digit scoring and none of which scoring more than 15 points.  Irving attempted 7 field goals, which is a career low.  Conversely, Irving had 7 assists which ties his career high mark.  

After the Cavs lost to the Heat on Tuesday night, Byron Scott admitted that he should have played Kyrie Irving more in the 4th quarter.  Byron Scott responded by giving Irving 6 1/2 minutes in the final quarter.  Although the game was essentially decided during most of the the 4th quarter, it was refreshing to see Irving getting more playing time.  The only way young players can improve and learn is to actually have an opportunity to play.  Playing the backup point guard almost as many minutes per game as the starter is not investing in the future.  Hopefully this will not be an example of old habits dying hard for Byron Scott.  

There is something about the Knicks that brings out the best in Anderson Varejao.  One of the last games he played last year before he tore a tendon in his right ankle was against the Knicks and he scored 14 points and grabbed 17 rebounds.  More impressive was how he outplayed Amar’e Stoudemire on both ends of the court.  One year later and the result is the same.  Anderson Varejao played recklessly and score 10 points and pulled down 16 rebounds.  Varejao had one of those games where it reminds Cleveland fans why he is such a valued member of the team.  Varejao had a double-double for the 9th time in 17 games.  He was clearly getting on Tyson Chandler’s nerves, which made him lose his temper and earn himself a technical foul.

Turnovers continue to be a major issue for the Cavaliers.  Whether it is a result of youth and inexperience or simply the team not valuing the basketball doesn’t matter.  The Cavs need to be more careful to not turn the ball over as much as they are.  The Cavs scored only 2 points during a stretch that lasted longer than 7 minutes and had 18 turnovers.  The fact that they overcame that scoring drought and turnovers to win by 10 points is impressive.  

The Good:  Every single Cavalier had a positive +/- statistic despite the fact that the game was not a blowout.  

The Bad:  The Knicks are an incredibly disappointing team.  They went from “The Knicks are back” to a state of panic in approximately a year and a half.  

The Ugly:  The Knicks were only able to convert on 15% of their three point attempts.  It did not stop them from attempting 20 of them.