Clippers-Knicks Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Apr 25 2012 12:00AM

The Los Angeles Clippers can't win the Pacific Division, but they can still earn home-court advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Having already secured a playoff berth, the New York Knicks have a chance to better their position in the East.

The Clippers end the regular season looking to avoid a third straight road loss Wednesday night against the Knicks.

Los Angeles' chances of claiming its first division title ended Tuesday with a 109-102 loss at Atlanta. The Clippers (40-25) could still finish with the same record as the rival Lakers, who own the tiebreaker between the teams.

The Clippers need only to win this contest or Memphis to lose at home to Orlando on Thursday to secure the fourth seed and home-court in the first round. Los Angeles and the Grizzlies currently have the same record, but the Clippers hold the tiebreaker.

Los Angeles would also like to regain some momentum after Blake Griffin and Chris Paul were the only Clippers to score in double figures Tuesday, with 36 and 34 points, respectively.

"We've got to use (Wednesday's game) as a huge barometer as far as what it's going to be like in the playoffs," Paul said.

Coming off a season-high scoring night Tuesday, Griffin has totaled 65 points and 21 rebounds in two career games against the Knicks.

Paul has combined for 67 points in his last two games overall. He averaged 25.6 on 53.1 percent shooting in five games at Madison Square Garden before he was held to four on 2-of-7 shooting last season while with New Orleans.

Currently seventh in the East, New York (34-30) won't have home-court to begin the playoffs but could move up to the sixth seed if it wins its final two games and the Magic lose their last two.

Regardless of where the Knicks finish, reaching the playoffs is an impressive accomplishment during a season in which coach Mike D'Antoni resigned and they overcame injuries to Amare Stoudemire and budding star Jeremy Lin.

The team's overall success helped earn Glen Grunwald a promotion to executive vice president and general manager Tuesday.

"Glen has done a terrific job this season," said Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan of Grunwald, who had been serving in the same role on an interim basis since July. "We look forward to him continuing in the role of general manager for many years to come."

The Knicks return home after concluding a 2-1 trip with a 113-112 win at Atlanta on Sunday. Carmelo Anthony had 39 points and 10 rebounds while Stoudemire added 22 points with 12 boards as New York shot 54.4 percent to improve to 16-6 since Mike Woodson replaced D'Antoni.

Anthony appears primed for the postseason, averaging 32.2 points in his last five games.

"Right now he is at the peak of his game," teammate J.R. Smith told the Knicks' official website. "Nobody is even coming close to matching his play on the other end, so that's what we need from him right now. As a leader of this team, I think he took on himself to respond well."

Anthony has averaged 29.3 points on 50.4 percent shooting in his last six games against the Clippers.

Los Angeles won the most recent meeting between the teams, 116-108 on Feb. 9, 2011, at MSG.

Knicks hold off Clippers to stay tied for 7th seed

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Posted Apr 26 2012 12:18AM

NEW YORK (AP) The No. 7 seed is there if the New York Knicks feel like taking their talents to South Beach.

It's unclear if they do.

With Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire on the bench, the Knicks nearly blew all of an 18-point, fourth-quarter lead before holding on to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 99-93 on Wednesday night.

JR Smith scored 21 points, including a rally-stopping jumper with 31 seconds left, as the Knicks moved within one victory of wrapping up seventh place in the Eastern Conference and a first-round matchup with Miami.

But the Knicks don't seem to care about finishing with a higher seed, with Anthony saying he doesn't expect to play Thursday in the regular-season finale, and players insisting they have no preference which East power they play in the first round.

"Right now it really doesn't matter," Anthony said. "Whoever we play, we'll have to start on the road anyway, so we just want to start just preparing for whether it's Chicago, whether it's Miami, just get ready to go."

Anthony scored 17 points for the Knicks, but he was on the bench the entire fourth quarter against a Clippers team that was fighting desperately for home-court advantage in the first round.

The Knicks will draw No. 2 seed Miami with a victory Thursday at Charlotte, which has one of the worst records in NBA history, or a Philadelphia loss to Detroit.

If New York loses and Philadelphia wins, the Knicks would fall to the No. 8 seed and open against Chicago, which some say is a better matchup. The Knicks beat the Bulls once, but weren't all that competitive while losing all three games against the Heat.

"Chicago has had the best record in the league the last two years, so why does everybody jump ahead and say, `Oh, you should dodge Miami and play Chicago?" center Tyson Chandler said. "I think both of those teams are 1 and 2, so you can pick your poison on them. I feel like we have to believe in ourselves enough that it doesn't matter who we play."

Blake Griffin had 29 points and 10 rebounds, and Randy Foye scored 28 points for the Clippers, who played without Chris Paul and fell a half-game behind Memphis for fourth place in the West. The Clippers need the Grizzlies to lose at home to Orlando on Thursday to have the home-court advantage for their first-round series.

Paul sat out after mildly straining his left groin in Tuesday's 109-102 loss at Atlanta. The Clippers dropped three of their final four games, costing themselves any chance to beat out the Lakers for the Pacific Division title and perhaps a chance to open the playoffs at home.

"It's tough because we controlled our own destiny for this last week, lost three out of our last four. It's tough." Paul said. "We've still got a chance. I'm sure Memphis is going to come out hard and aggressive. I don't know. Now we just got to sit and wait."

But they wrapped up their first season with Paul at 40-26 and will make their first postseason appearance since 2006 and just their fifth since 1985.

The Knicks lost their slim chance of earning the No. 6 seed and avoiding the Bulls or Heat when Orlando beat Charlotte earlier Wednesday. The No. 7 spot is within their grasp - given the Bobcats (7-58) have lost 22 in a row.

But it was hard to tell if the Knicks wanted it while sitting key starters down the stretch, though Chandler did re-enter in the final minutes and block one of Griffin's shots.

"I have great confidence in the guys that come off the bench. I'm a coach who wants to see who'll make plays. I felt good about the guys that were in at the end of the game," interim coach Mike Woodson said.

The Knicks led throughout the second half, seemingly putting it away early in the fourth when they opened a 90-72 lead with 7:23 remaining as Smith threw an alley-oop pass to Landry Fields on the break. Fans began chanting "Beat the Heat!" but suddenly the Knicks - with Philadelphia having already won its game - almost couldn't beat the Clippers.

With Anthony and Stoudemire sitting down the stretch, the Clippers stormed back and cut it to 94-93 on Griffin's basket with 52 seconds left.

Smith answered with a jumper, and after Foye's pass was broken up, Smith hit two free throws to make it 98-93 with 23.5 seconds to go.

The Clippers finished 16-17 on the road, missing their first finish above .500 since moving to Los Angeles in 1984.

"We'll fight no matter how much we're down or who's playing or who's not playing or who we're playing. We'll fight," Griffin said.

The Knicks led 24-19 after one then got a pair of 3-pointers from Steve Novak and two layups by Fields early in the second while extending the lead to 13. The Clippers cut it to one before New York pushed it back up to 48-39 at halftime.

Notes: Jeremy Lin, recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, shot around on the side during the Knicks' morning practice, moving very slowly from side to side. The Knicks hope he could return if they reach the second round. ... General manager Glen Grunwald, who had the interim tag removed from his title Tuesday, said Woodson is doing a "fantastic job" but wouldn't discuss his former college teammate's chances of remaining. "I think we need to stay focused on the moment. We're in the playoffs right now, we need to try and get a couple of wins here this week, and then do as well as we can," Grunwald said. "We need to stay focused on that."

Notebook: Knicks 99, Clippers 93

Posted Wednesday April 25, 2012 11:21PM

By Adam Zagoria, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Knicks will either be the No. 7 or No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference after New York held off a late surge from the Chris Paul-less Clippers, 99-93, at Madison Square Garden and the Orlando Magic won at home against the Charlotte Bobcats, 102-95.

The Knicks will garner the No. 7 spot with either a win Thursday at Charlotte or a loss by the Philadelphia 76ers at Detroit. If the Knicks lose and the Sixers win, the Knicks would fall to No. 8.

The question is: Whom do they want to play, the Miami Heat or the Chicago Bulls?

In their final home game of the regular season, J.R. Smith paced the Knicks with 21 points off the bench and Carmelo Anthony added 17 without playing the fourth. Tyson Chandler tallied 11 points and five rebounds.

Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 29 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals and Randy Foye added 28 points.

The Clippers now need Memphis to lose to Orlando on Thursday to host a playoff opener against the Grizzlies at Staples Center this weekend.

QUOTABLE: "It don't matter who we play [in the playoffs] but I like to win. I'm going into the game [Thursday] with the idea that we're going to play a solid game and we're going to win a game."
-- Mike Woodson on whether he will rest starters against Charlotte

THE STAT: The Clippers committed 14 turnovers that led to 20 Knicks points.

TURNING POINT: After the Clippers rattled off a 21-4 run to trim a 90-72 lead to 94-93, Smith hit a 19-foot jumper with 31 seconds left to make it 96-93. Smith added two more foul shots and Chandler had one for the game's final points.

QUOTABLE II: "There will be some limited minutes played [against Charlotte]. I'm not one to sit guys. They gotta tell me that they don't want to play."
-- Woodson

WHO'S HOT: Steve Novak (14 points) and Smith came off the bench to go a combined 7-for-14 from beyond the arc for a combined 35 points.

WHO'S NOT: Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe went 1-for-5 with two points.

NOTABLE: Speaking with the media for the first time since having his own interim tag removed Tuesday, Knicks GM Glen Grunwald enthusiastically endorsed Woodson but declined to say whether Woodson will return next season. "Woody's done a fantastic job," Grunwald said. "I can't give him enough credit for the job he's done. Normally coaching changes don't result in such a dramatic improvement in a team's performance so I think that speaks very well of him."

Since taking over for Mike D'Antoni, Woodson is 16-6 and has led the Knicks to the postseason for the second consecutive year. They are the No. 7 seed entering this game. Still, Grunwald declined to say that Woodson would definitely return next year. "We are not talking about any staffing changes today," Grunwald said. "We need to stay focused on the moment. That's why I don't speak too often.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Kate Upton, Mark Sanchez, Santonio Holmes and Shonn Greene of the Jets; and Chris Snee of the Giants sat courtside. Sanchez and Holmes were booed.

UP NEXT: For the Knicks, Playoffs TBD. For the Clippers, Playoffs TBD.

• Clippers: Billups, Leslie
• Knicks: Jeffries, Lin

• Clippers: --
• Knicks: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Officials: #17 Joe Crawford, #38 Michael Smith, #77 Karl Lane
• Attendance: 19763
• Duration: 2:31