Mark L. Baer-USA Today Sports
On Sunday afternoon, the Boston Celtics avoided a four game sweep from the New York Knicks, winning in overtime and cutting their series deficit to 3-1.
In the loss on Sunday, Knicks’ superstar Carmelo Anthony shot an astonishing 35 field goals. Sadly enough, he only managed to make ten of them. That’s good enough for a 28.6% mark from the field. Ironically enough however, even with Anthony shooting so poorly, the Celtics needed overtime to defeat New York and force a Game 5. Throw in the fact that J.R. Smith, the team’s second leading scorer in the postseason, did not play due to suspension and you have a recipe that still more than favors the Knicks despite one Celtics’ victory.
Overall however, Anthony’s offensive statistics in this opening round series are ridiculous. Including his 10-of-35 mark on Sunday afternoon, Carmelo has now attempted 113 field goals in four games this postseason. In addition, he has just four assists. Yes, 113 field goal attempts and four assists — it’s head spinning! Even more ironic, Anthony recorded two assists one Sunday afternoon, the only game in which the Knicks have lost thus far. Maybe he should just be jacking shots up left and right.
In all, Anthony is averaging 33.0 points per game this postseason, a number that is key for the Knicks’ success. So despite so of his shocking offensive numbers, it’s tough for anyone to really complain or question what he is doing. New York has taken three of four games from Boston in this series, so despite how inefficient and shocking Anthony’s numbers are — the Knicks are still winning.
While Boston stayed alive on Sunday afternoon, the gears switch back to New York on Wednesday night, as the Knicks will once again look to close out the series. The Celtics however, do get three days of rest between now and then, a critical factor for this veteran team.
Follow Paul Seaver on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS
