NYK 2014/15 schedule - Key dates

With next seasons schedule already known, it's time for us to ink in red some key matchups for the upcoming season:

OCTOBER
• 10/31 W Chicago 116 @ 119 New York - First game of the season, and Ricky's debut @MSG



NOVEMBER
• 11/8 W New York 107 @ 103 Minnesota - Rubio returns to Minnesota. Lin/Franklin/Parsons meet their former team too.
• 11/15 L Miami 126 @ 121 New York - The champs visit Manhattan to face the only team to give them a L last postseason. It won't be de same without OP though...
• 11/23 W Indiana 87 @ 111 New York - LeBron pays his first visit to the MSG as a member of the Pacers.



DECEMBER
• 12/1 W Brooklyn 111 @ 130 New York - Our across the bridge neighbours visit us for the first time this season. #rivalry
• 12/20 New York @ Miami - This time we visit Miami @AmericanAirlinesArena. Facing the champs is always a challenge!
• 12/26 Brooklyn @ New York - Second win.. er I mean.. game against the Nets  



JANUARY
• 1/10 Houston @ New York - Former Western conference champs visit the Garden



FEBRUARY
• 2/6 New York @ Brooklyn - The team moves to Brooklyn for our first game there this season.



MARCH
• 3/30 New York @ Miami - Second visit to Miami

APRIL
• 4/1 Minnesota @ New York - Lin, Parsons and Franklin come back to the Garden for the first time since the trade.
• 4/6 Miami @ New York - The champs visit us for the last time in the RS. Hopefully we'll meet again in the postseason!
• 4/17 New York @ Brooklyn - Last game against the Nets. We'll be happy to sweep the season series  


More games could be added as the season goes on, specially some division matchups, depending on both teams record.

great read, thannks for that

i also reviewed my schedule today and Nov looks really tough ;( kikcing off vs GS and SA at home and then flying to MIN and OKC... i suppose better get those games out of the way early

I can't wait to see the war of words that goes back and forth between the Nets and Knicks this season.

Cool idea! December seems to be a tough month for you...

Rizzo (NO) wrote:I can't wait to see the war of words that goes back and forth between the Nets and Knicks this season.

Yeah, it's more of a war or words off the court, cause once the game starts there's really no battle about who wins  

blackice (ATL) wrote:Cool idea! December seems to be a tough month for you...

Yeah, it looks like a tough start of the season overall. But hey, we gotta play them all   


By the way, you've got two #15 (Cousins and Kemba) and two #5 (Josh and Anderson) in you starting five (in the sign). And all four add #40 (Harrison Barnes)  

Cool idea.

But its gonna sting a little for Ricky losing to his (superior) former team.

Jake0890 (MIN) wrote:Cool idea.

But its gonna sting a little for Ricky losing to his (superior) former team.

I'm willing to match up against your team actually. You've built an outstanding roster, so winning you will have even more value  
Difficult, but Ricky accepts the challenge

I understand.... Didnt want to include all the games you'll lose to Charlotte, huh?

Nice read, really looking forward to your games vs the Wolves and Nets.

We were close last season but hopefully there's a few division games to cover against us

This rivalry between you spanish guys will be really entertaning! looking forward to get the season started, come on SCDP, take on some further clients to get the FA finished soon:)

First key-matchup of the season:

key-matchup wrote:OCTOBER
• 10/31 Chicago @ New York - First game of the season, and Ricky's debut @MSG

W: Chicago Bulls 116 @ 119 New York Knicks
Ricky Rubio: 19 points, 13 asists, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 TO
JaVale McGee: 22 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block
Chris Bosh: 23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 asists, 2 steals


What a game to start the season!!
Knicks started the game a bit rusty, and the Bulls made us pay with a 43-30 first quarter. It didn't look well until we reached that quarters break and Ricky took the word as Fratello was about to speak: 'Come on guys! We've gotta win this one! We need some stops and get out running! Let's focus on defense, I'll stop Derrick. JaVale get the rebound and give me the damn ball. Let's go!!'
Mike couldn't say anything afterwards but a simple 'yeah, follow Rubio! Let's go! 1-2-3 Knicks!!'

From there on the Knicks managed to win the next 3 quarters to come back from a 15 point deficit. McGee did was his PG asked him to do, and finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds and the game MVP honors.
Rubio though finished his first ever MSG game with a triple double: 19 points, 13 dimes, 10 rebounds to go with 4 steals! Anyway his only comment after that performance was to praise his teammate JaVale: 'You've gotta give credit to JaVale for what he did tonight. He understood what I asked him to do at the end of the first and executed it perfectly. Whenever he plays like this we have a great chance to win the ballgame. Go Knicks!'

I also want to congratulate Benripcity and the Bulls for the game. They played us face to face at home in a game anyone could've won. If the Bulls keep playing like that we've got a candidate for the top4 in the east here, and I'm not exaggerating.

Really love your write ups. really creative!
McGee and Rubio put on a show to beat the Bulls. Your team is really entertaining:)

DennisJ (BOS) wrote:Really love your write ups. really creative!
McGee and Rubio put on a show to beat the Bulls. Your team is really entertaining:)

LOL, I even was having fun imagining the conversation between Rubio and McGee:
RR: 'Get rebounds and pass me the ball, you get it?'
JaVale: '(Um.. that looks easy, I guess.., where's the trick?...  ) Ok man.
RR: 'Great, let's go!'
Result: McGee 22 and 13 and MVP of the game  

Meanwhile Bosh, who listened the conversation and the result, goes like: 'You gotta be kidding me!!'

Key-matchup wrote:NOVEMBER
• 11/8 New York @ Minnesota - Rubio returns to Minnesota. Lin/Franklin/Parsons meet their former team too.

W: New York Knicks 107 @ Minnesota Timberwolves 93
Ricky Rubio: 17 points, 22 asists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals
JaVale McGee: 31 points, 11 rebs
Kosta Koufos: 10 points, 10 rebs

We got some dates inked in red in our schedule before the season got started. But after the first two key matchups we've started thinking that Ricky is the one having those dates marked in his mind.
On the first one he went for a triple-double, and now he gets a career high 22 dimes in the second one!! I already knew he loved the pressure and performed best in key games, but the kid is even surprising me   


Ricky was a fan favourite in Minnesota and fans still love the kid even if he plays for the Knicks now

The night started well for Rubio in his first game back in Minnesota as a Knick. Fans received him with a warm welcome, letting him know they didn't want him out.
So once the game started the young Knickerbocker felt like at home @Target Center, and really played like it.

Knicks won all four quarters and dominated the game from the start thanks to Ricky's distribution. JaVale had himself another monster game with 31 points and 11 rebounds, proving that he loves playing with our PG from El Masnou.

Bosh also did a great job slowing down Love. Kevin went for 22 points but it wasn't a great night for him (9/23, including 3/9 from 3PT). Chris also scored 16 on a much productive 6/10 shooting.
Finally Lin was overshadowed by Rubio's performance. Parsons did well with 23 points, 5 rebs and 4 dimes, but Chase had and even more effective night for us going 7/9 from the field for 16, so we somehow didn't have a mismatch there. And the last former Knick Jamaal got the worst part. After being a starter in New York he saw his minutes decreased playing of the bench now in Minnesota. Franklin had just 8 minutes to prove his level tonight. Hopefully the Wolves will find him more minutes in the rotation like in previous games, cause this kid really makes them better an is a luxury having him off the bench.


Rubio and Lin met first time after changing uniforms this offseason

L: Miami Heat 126 @ 121 New York Knicks
Ricky Rubio: 27 points, 12 asists, 6 rebounds, 3 steals
JaVale McGee: 32 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block

Close game against the Heat, in which both teams won 2 quarters, and three of them ending with less than a 2 point difference.
So the third 36-29 quarter was key for Miami's win.

Durant scored 49 points on us, but that was something we were counting on. The goal was to stop the rest of the team better, specially Monta Ellis, and we came short on that one.

McGee had another pretty efficient night, scoring 32 points on 13 from 15 shooting, in just 30 minutes of action. Ricky also finished with great numbers: 27 points, 12 asists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. But the effort wasn't enough, and the Heat managed to wet the W back to Miami.

Already looking for the next game against the champs, as we won't rest till winning or at least getting the season series even. Too much history between this two franchises, even with OP gone

W: Indiana Pacers 87 @ 111 New York Knicks
Ricky Rubio: 21 points, 15 asists, 5 rebounds, 2 steals
Chris Bosh: 30 points, 5 rebounds

Another one of the key games we had inked in our schedule since the beginning of the season.
LeBron's first appearance @MSG as a member of the Pacers got all the headlines in most NY papers.

But it wasn't an easy night for 'The King' this time, as he found Rubio and the best Knicks in front.


JaVale and specially Bosh tonight dominated the paint. Chris played great against Dirk for the second time this season, and made clear the German superstar isn't enough to stop him.

With this win we move to 2-0 in our season series against the Pacers. A team built to win with LeBron, Kobe and Dirk always deserves some credit, so we're proud that we slowed them down twice already.

W: Brooklyn Nets 111 @ 130 New York Knicks
Ricky Rubio: 21 points, 12 asists, 5 steals, 2 rebounds
Chris Bosh: 22 points, 6 rebounds
Kosta Koufos: 22 points, 11 rebounds off the bench
Raymond Felton: 6 points, 10 asists in 11 minutes of play!

We had it clear: 'Let Rudy shoot'. And he indeed had a rare great shooting night as he went for 42 points, but the W wasn't in danger the whole game, as we managed to win each and every quarter.
A 59-73 (+14) scoreboard at halftime @MSG, and the 130 points at the end of the game shows that too.

Appart from Rubio and Bosh putting their usual numbers, we need to mention Kosta's big games lately. Our six man is averaging 18.2 ppg and 8.6 rebounds in the last 5 games, on a great 64.1% shooting on those 5 games.
Felton also had a great game, dishing out 10 asists in just 11 minutes of play!

So we take the first one against the Nets. Let's see if they can battle a bit more in the next one..