When the Knicks signed 26-year old point guard Raymond Felton it wasn’t a sexy signing.  But, Felton has rewarded the Knicks by playing the best basketball of his career so far this year.  Felton has played in 16 games (all starts) for the Knicks so far this year and he is averaging 36.9 minutes, 17.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game.  Felton has been doing it all for the Knicks as he is playing well on defense as well as offense.  He keeps all of his teammates involved in this offense while making sure he gets his fair share of the shots.

The Knicks need small forward Danilo Gallinari to step up as his shooting has been way off so far this year. He is only shooting 39.7% from the floor and 37.3% from three point range and that’s just not good enough. His shooting is his main asset so when he’s off with his shot, he’s not helping the Knicks at all. Gallinari has played in 14 games (all starts) for the Knicks and he is averaging 31.8 minutes, 16.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. The Knicks will likely be patient with Gallinari.

21-year old power forward Anthony Randolph was the key player for the Knicks in the David Lee trade over the summer. Randolph has not played too well so far this year. He has played in 7 games (0 starts) for the Knicks so far this year and he is averaging 11.9 minutes, 2.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Randolph is only shooting 25% from the floor so far this year (6 for 25) and that is especially pathetic when you consider that most of his shots are coming from close range. Still, Randolph has a huge upside and I think he’s going to snap out of his funk at some point for the Knicks as he’s just too talented to keep playing like he is right now.

22-year old Landry Fields won the shooting guard spot before the year started and he has been solid. Fields has played in 10 games (all starts) for the Knicks so far this year and he is averaging 27.4 minutes, 9.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He is also shooting 57.1% from the floor so far this year as he is making everything look easy. The Knicks have apparently found a steal in the second round of last June’s NBA Draft. 24-year old Timofey Mozgov has been so/so in the start of his NBA career. The center has played in 10 games (8 starts) for the Knicks so far this year and he is averaging 13.8 minutes, 3.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. The Knicks are expecting a little more of him so they hope he will start showing some improvement soon. 24-year old SG Andy Rautins has played in 1 game (0 starts) for the Knicks so far this year. In that game, Rautins played 8 minutes in which he scored 3 points and dished out 1 assist.

The Knicks shot 50.6% from the floor in this game and they outscored the Wizards 31-18 which were big reasons for the win last night. Toney Douglas was outstanding off the bench once again last night with 19 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals in 30 minutes. Amare Stoudemire filled up the stat sheet with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 4 blocked shots. Danilo Gallinari also had a solid game with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots last night. Raymond Felton (13 points), Ronny Turiaf (10 points) and Wilson Chandler (14 points) also pitched in offensively for the Knicks last night. The Knicks are now 3-2 on the year.

The Knicks shot the lights out last night hitting 50% from the floor and 66.7% (16/24) from three point range and that helped them hold off the Bulls in Chicago. Toney Douglas led the way for the Knicks off the bench last night with 30 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists and 4 steals. Douglas shot 9 of 14 from the floor, 5 of 9 from three point range and 7 of 7 from the free throw line. Danilo Gallinari filled up the stat sheet last night with 24 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot. Raymond Felton was outstanding in running the offense with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals. Amare Stoudemire had 14 points last night but he was only 5 of 21 from the floor and Wilson Chandler added 10 points on 4 of 11 shooting from the floor. The Knicks are now 2-2 on the year.

23-year old SG/SF Wilson Chandler lost his starting job to rookie Landry Fields. Instead of moping and griping about it, Chandler seems to be embracing his role as the Knicks’ Sixth Man. Chandler has played in all 3 games (0 starts) for the Knicks so far this year and he is averaging 33.3 minutes, 21.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 3.0 blocks per game. Chandler has been so good off the bench that I’m thinking the Knicks should keep him there while playing him starters minutes.