Knicks Ugly in Loss to Kings 107-97, Z-Bo Ejected

If you think that score was close the whole game, consider that the Knicks were down 82-58 in the 3rd quarter. The Kings' starters outscored the Knicks 98-38. 5 players outscored the whole Knicks team. Knicks' fans were booing and were said to chant "Fire Isiah!" the earliest time in a game this year, and on top of that Zach Randolph was ejected for throwing his headband at a ref. So as another episode of the soap opera "Madison Square Garden" continued, John Salmons lit it up like the show Hangtime, getting career highs of 32 points and 6 steals. Kings' coach Reggie Theus would know something about the show, he was the coach on the show for the first few seasons. The Kings were without their 3 best players with Kevin Martin and Mike Bibby due back this month and Ron Artest out 3-4 weeks.

Now I know firsthand why the Knicks are so horrible with the 3rd worst record in the NBA. That's the worst defense I've seen since the Kings' defense last year. A lot of the decisions fall on the coach, who's supposed to keep this team together. When are they going to fire this guy? This guy wants to "leave a championship legacy" and they just went to 4 straight losing seasons as team president and head coach. How can they be so bad with supposedly talented players with Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry, Zach Randolph, Quentin Richardson, Jamal Crawford and potential players David Lee, Nate Robinson and Renaldo Balkman who sparked a late game run? All I know is that I've had enough waiting for a Knicks' turnaround because until Isiah Thomas is given the Scott Skiles treatment, the Knicks are going to be a horrible team. Talent's nothing if team chemistry isn't right.

Playing at MSG is always big for the Kings because 3 of their players are from NYC. Artest is from Queens, Francisco Garcia's from the Bronx and Quincy Douby's from Brooklyn.The Kings never trailed the game as Salmons started his career night with the first 5 Kings' points, leading to an 8-2 lead. Curry had the first 8 points to tie the game and the 15/19 Knicks' points. After a David Lee lay-up to tie the game at 21, the Garden acted like they've never seen a center hit a 3 before when Brad Miller scored it. It was only 28-23 at the beginning of the 2nd quarter, but the meltdown would begin.

Sacramento would outscore the Knicks 26-17 in the quarter leading to a 54-40. The Knicks were starting to hear boos early in the game and chants of "Fire Isiah!" started early. At the start of the 3rd quarter after the Knicks made the first basket, Sacramento outscored the Knicks 24-16 to lead 82-58. It only got uglier for the Knicks when Randolph fouled rookie Spencer Hawes and threw his headband at an official. He got booed off of the court as he was ejected from the game and is expected to be fined. The Knicks tried an unlikely comeback in the 4th quarter when they were down 104-96, but 8 points would be the nearest they could get as the Kings won wire to wire. The Kings go up to 12-18, while the Knicks go down to 8-22.

The Kings's starters outscored the Knicks' starters 98-38 going 4-1 on the road after losing 9 straight road games and losing 4 straight during the last homestand. Salmons was the best player in the NBA that night and had another game night with career highs of 32 points and 6 steals to go along with 11 rebounds and 6 assists. Brad Miller looks like he's back into all-star form scoring a season high 26 points to go along with a game high 16 rebounds, 2 assists and a block. Garcia had a great homecoming in NY finishing with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Beno Udrih had a good night with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. Mikki Moore finished with 6 points and 7 rebounds and fouled out. In other Kings notes, Quincy Douby only had 4 points in his return home but had a great block on Marbury's 3 point attempt. Spencer Hawes scored 2 points in his first MSG game since college. Mike Bibby and Kevin Martin practiced on the court but didn't suit up for the game. Artest did not show up for the game, and in fact went to see his first Broadway show the day before getting elbow surgery. The

The Knicks were horrible in this game, but a late 4th quarter surge made this game look close. Starters Quentin Richardson and Jared Jefferies combined for 0 points. Each had 4 rebounds while Richardson had 2 assists. Randolph finished with 5 points and 4 rebounds before getting ejected in the 3rd quarter. The Knicks had a -27 point differential when he was on the floor. Curry had 15 points in the 1st quarter but scored 9 points the rest of the game finishing with 24 points and 3 rebounds. Marbury came off the bench to get 16 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Nate Robinson came in with 19 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. David Lee gave a reason Knicks fans to stay with 11 points and a team high 12 rebounds. Renaldo Balkman came in to score 4 points to give the Knicks late energy. Rookie Wilson Chandler finished with 7 points, all in the 2nd quarter.

The Kings have had breakout players John Salmons and Francisco Garcia just takeover in games. Salmons has averaged 19.7 ppg. as a starter and Garcia has averaged 18.9 ppg. I asked ESPN's David Thorpe in a live online chat who's stepped up the most and he said "Salmons is a revelation." Garcia has hit 2 game-winning 3 pointers against the Sonics and the Nets, and Salmons driving lay-ups have helped this team throughout games and clutch situations. These 2 guys have been phenomenal stepping up and if they play the same coming off the bench with Artest (19.1 ppg.) and Martin (24.5) and Bibby coming back, this team might have an offensive force to be reckoned with. As for the Knicks, good luck playing at San Antonio.