And a team like Boston cannot afford to look ridiculous.

The scary part is that the offensive sets that we ran out of two consecutive timeouts sends a message that we are capable of adjusting the offense more intuitively.

Kenyon Martin is the new Secretary of Defense.

Can we play this defense on the road?

The Boston Celtics scored a total of 23 points in the second half. 23.

Take a deep breath and that sink in a moment.

It was total freewheeling domination, the Knicks as their best selves, the team Knicks fans had been waiting for for six quarters. They just turned it on and wiped out the Celtics like it was nothing, like they were the Bobcats or something. The big scary Celtics, mean old Kevin Garnett, assassin Paul Pierce ... the Knicks just blew them off the court. It was something to see. (The Celtics only scored 12 points in the fourth quarter too, totaling 23 in the whole second half.)

The Knicks once again escaped a lousy first half in far better position than they should have. At halftime, despite being out shot 55 percent to 38 percent, despite a 18-8 deficit in points off turnovers, being outrebounded, out-assisted and blocking no shots (the interior defense was still a problem, though Tyson Chandler showed a bit more pep tonight), the Knicks were only down six. And that deficit was erased in the first two minutes of the second half by two Iman Shumpert 3-pointers. And then it was on. It was such an easy win that Jim Dolan just couldn't help but enjoy himself a lollipop.

Carmelo Anthony finished with 34 points, and J.R. Smith had 19, all of which were deliriously entertaining. (Raymond Felton was terrific again, by the way.) And by the end, Quentin Richardson was getting minutes. It was a shellacking, that second half. By the end, there was no Ubuntu, no Paul Pierce dagger, no Kevin Garnett heckle. There was just a team vaguely impersonating the Celtics, and the Knicks looking like something we haven't seen around here in a long time. The Knicks have two games in Boston coming up, and winning one of them will be imperative, lest this series come back here tied and everyone all nervous again. It is the Celtics, after all, and as down as they look right now, muscle memory can't help but kick in and scare Knicks fans a little; you never know with those guys.

But tonight, that didn't look like much of a possibility. Tonight, in that second half, you wondered if this series is even coming back to New York at all.

Will Leitch, NYMagazine

A prominent Boston columnist has twice in a week lambasted Anthony as being a “overrated ballhog’’ – bizarre timing considering his spectacular play since returning from knee drainage procedure in late March.

“Me personally I really don’t care about what other people think,’’ Woodson said in today’s conference call with the Knicks up 2-0. “Those people are not around Carmelo every day. I see Carmelo every day. I know the work the young man has put in as a player. A lot of these people probably never played basketball in their life. Making comments that he’s not committed? I think Melo's damn committed. He’s been that way since I took over the team. I like everything about him. I think his teammates love him. I think our fans love what he’s brought to the team this year. Only time will tell.’’

Read more: Knicks' Woodson defends star from critics: 'I think Melo's damn committed' http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/knicksblog/knicks_woodson_defends_melo_from_aa1c1eNrSaroSvB8lzug5J#ixzz2RPzp82qy

Allanfan20 wrote:Melo has been wonderful. I wonder how Woodson would react if he heard Collin Cowherd. He's just as bad as that Boston columnist.

Colin is tripling down at this point...He was jamming Melo from the start of the season saying there is a reason Lin don't want to play with Melo..Colin is short and the market is screaming higher...So what does he do, keep selling...This could end ugly for a lot of people..

holfresh wrote:

Allanfan20 wrote:Melo has been wonderful. I wonder how Woodson would react if he heard Collin Cowherd. He's just as bad as that Boston columnist.

Colin is tripling down at this point...He was jamming Melo from the start of the season saying there is a reason Lin don't want to play with Melo..Colin is short and the market is screaming higher...So what does he do, keep selling...This could end ugly for a lot of people..

He has been down on Melo for years. You are right though. He has been hard and heavy and taking shots at Knicks fans while at it. Yesterday, he argued that Knicks fans shouldn't be chanting MVP when Melo is at the FT line if they get mad when people compare him to LeBron. Ridiculous. It's called having fun and cheering on their best player. I get the feeling that people like him aren't particularly good at doing that.

Allanfan20 wrote:

holfresh wrote:

Allanfan20 wrote:Melo has been wonderful. I wonder how Woodson would react if he heard Collin Cowherd. He's just as bad as that Boston columnist.

Colin is tripling down at this point...He was jamming Melo from the start of the season saying there is a reason Lin don't want to play with Melo..Colin is short and the market is screaming higher...So what does he do, keep selling...This could end ugly for a lot of people..

He has been down on Melo for years. You are right though. He has been hard and heavy and taking shots at Knicks fans while at it. Yesterday, he argued that Knicks fans shouldn't be chanting MVP when Melo is at the FT line if they get mad when people compare him to LeBron. Ridiculous. It's called having fun and cheering on their best player. I get the feeling that people like him aren't particularly good at doing that.

Typical Can't Be A Homer At All Costs NY Media. Sad.
Sooner or later, all those short sales get their margin calls. Hopefully, this is the year that happens.

Colin Cowherd, soon to be the next Mad Dog Russo, appearing soon on his very own Sirius Channel 1478.