The Knicks took a little step back losing to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.  Eddy Curry scored 20 points but he only had 2 rebounds which is pathetic for a player of his size.  Quentin Richardson had another solid basketball game as he scored 19 points.  Nate Robinson was a little ball of energy as he scored 15 points in only 22 minutes on the floor.

Quentin Richardson had a fantastic game for the Knicks, scoring 31 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.  Stephon Marbury scored 19 points and dished out 8 assists.  Center Eddy Curry finally started to show some heart, scoring 17 pointsm grabbing 14 rebounds and blocking 3 shots.  Second year-players David Lee (10 points, 13 rebounds) and Nate Robinson (14 points in 18 minutes) played key roles in keeping this game going until the Knicks won the game.

Shooting guard was a little problem for the Knicks in this game.  Stevie Francis only scored 2 points despite playing 34 minutes.  Jamal Crawford scored 21 points, but he only shot 4 of 22 from the field.

The Knicks have two great athletes at shooting guard.  The starter will likely be Stevie Francis, who has point guard skills and shooting guard skills.  Francis uses his great speed to get to the basket on offense.  Francis has averaged 19.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game for his career.  If Francis is focused and can co-exist with Stephon Marbury, the Knicks could have a dynamic backcourt.

Jamal Crawford will battle Francis for playing time because he’s almost as good of a player as Francis.  Crawford has averaged 13.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game in his career.  Crawford is a little better on defense than Francis is, and that could matter to Coach Thomas.