Bobcats comeback attempt falls short, Knicks win 111-102

Well, this was a weird game; that's for sure.

It was a blowout from the opening tip. The Knicks quickly took a large lead and never gave it up. They led 38-20 at the end of the first quarter and had 69 points at the end of the half. At one point in the 2nd quarter, the Knicks were up 30 points. Of course, the Knicks were lights out from three during this time. As those of us who watch the Bobcats know, you can't sustain that forever. In the second half the Bobcats constantly chipped away at the score as the Knicks kept missing. The Knicks shot 62 percent in the first half. They shot 35 percent in the second half and the Bobcats outscored them 55-42. The Bobcats got the game to within seven points late in the fourth quarter, but that's as close as they were able to get it as they simply ran out of time.

The Bobcats' defense was pretty bad at the beginning. J.R. Smith scored at will in the first half, going 9-for-11 and making both of his three-point shots. He had 23 points in the first half alone. Unfortunately, most of these were not the results of wild shots luckily going in (some of them were) but were rather wide open shots the Bobcats allowed. In the second half the Bobcats stepped up their defense. With the Knicks cooling off, Charlotte was able to make their slight comeback.

The Bobcats didn't play an incredibly awful game. Teams don't usually shoot over 60 percent in a half. The Bobcats had 42 at the end of the first half and shot 42 percent. Those are fairly average or slightly below average numbers. Due to the Knicks scoring so much and so often, there were a lot more possessions than usual, so this may have inflated things a little. The Bobcats also shot way too many contested jump shots. Credit goes to the Knicks for doing their job and getting to the shooter, but the Bobcats at times looked very frustrated. The result: a lot of chucking bad shots from the Bobcats.

All in all, the Bobcats could have played much better. But when you look closer at the game, you realize they didn't play too terribly. The Knicks are still a solid playoff-quality team in the Eastern Conference. Their offense isn't the most fluid destructive force, but they can make opponents pay dearly. And their defense is solid enough. There are a few complaints here or there but sometimes the other team just has a crazy night shooting.