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The New York Knicks entered this shortened NBA season with title aspirations as lofty as that sounds. With free agent Tyson Chandler arriving from the reigning champs Dallas Mavericks, more time for Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire to figure out each others tendencies and an ESPN.com story featuring these three stars as the new look of the loaded Eastern Conference things were looking bright. After a month in this team is fighting just to make the playoffs.
If you ask any fan who the starting point guard for the Knicks is you might get answers ranging from Toney Douglas, Iman Shumpert, Mike Bibby, Jeremy Lin and maybe Baron Davis who has missed the beginning of the season due to a herniated disc in his back. Many fans were looking for him to be a savior for this team but that is a lot to ask for from the 32-year-old who was set back by an elbow infection last week. The team used their amnesty rule on guard Chauncey Billups during the off-season to bring in Chandler. Billups has been a big influence on his new team the Los Angeles Clippers but will miss the remainder of the season due to an Achilles injury. Combined they are averaging 7.5 points, 2.7 assists and 2.1 rebounds in 26 games. Not one of these point guards is in the top 50 in the league when it comes to assists per game. However, the team has three players Shumpert, Anthony and Stoudemire in the top 35 when it comes to turnovers per game.
But after Linsanity (Lin) was inserted into the starting lineup the team has won three in a row against the likes of the New Jersey Nets, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards. According to Yahoo! Sports the Harvard grad has been living on his brother's couch before his contract was guaranteed by the team this past Tuesday. Lin has played with the Golden State Warriors, Clippers and the Houston Rockets. During this winning streak the team has been without the services of Anthony, who was selected to this year's All-Star game will miss 1-2 weeks with a groin injury and Stoudemire who is dealing with a death in the family.
Questions still linger whether this team could still make the playoffs at the moment slated in 9th place in the Eastern Conference at 11-15 half a game back of the Milwaukee Bucks. Can Lin continue his hot play averaging 19.5 points and 6.5 assists per game in February? Can coach Mike D'Antoni's system work or does the team need a new coach that preaches defense? Can Anthony and Stoudemire co-exist and make this dynamic combination work?
With over two months before the postseason and the Los Angeles Lakers coming to the Garden on Friday this team will definitely have their work cut out for themselves.
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