Fast Break Down Memory Lane: 2012-13 New York Knicks

This week on Fast Break Down Memory Lane, we talked about the 2012-13 New York Knicks. The team was one of the more exciting teams we have seen in the NBA. You could expect a crazy highlight play from this squad almost every night. In our discussion, we discussed the factors that hindered this team from winning a championship. We also shared some of our favorite moments from this Knicks team. 

Below you can read about our opinions and viewpoints on this Knicks team. If you want to catch the next show live, join us every Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST, streaming exclusively on the Relevnt app.

Matt Mendosa

The problems that prevented this team from being a real contender were the health and age of this group. Only seven players played over 60 games for the Knicks in that season. In addition, the health of who was supposed to be Carmelo Anthony’s co-star, Amar’e Stoudemire, was inconsistent, and more often than not, Stoudemire was injured. 

Stoudemire was frequently injured, which caused his impact on the team to decrease. Stoudemire only played 29 games in the 2012-13 season. When healthy, Stoudemire was an All-Star caliber player who had averaged over 20 points per game in previous seasons. Stoudemire's health was a big reason for the Knicks' inability to make that championship leap. 

My favorite aspect of this team was the performance of J.R. Smith. Smith won Sixth Man of the Year while averaging 18.1 points per game. Smith was the second-leading scorer on this team behind Anthony, the league's leading scorer. Smith hit multiple game-winners and had some electrifying dunks and moments that will be discussed for years to come. 

Getty Images

Earl Ross

Looking at the 2012-13 New York Knicks, one of the biggest problems with this roster was the lack of a co-star to the Carmelo Anthony show. Smith was the closest thing to that, averaging 18 points per game. The energy he brought day in and out made him a solid role player for this squad. But for me, he wasn’t a 1A player next to Anthony. The big problem with Smith was his drastic drop in performance during the playoffs, going from 18 to 13 points per game. Playing a team like the Pacers in the second round, the Knicks needed another offensive threat to match Anthony's performances.

I also believe this team was missing a solid and consistent point guard option. Jason Kidd played decently for this squad but was trending towards the end of his career coming into this season at 39 years old. Kidd averaged six points and three assists per game. While these weren’t crazy numbers, he did have some great moments this season. Another guard option they had was Raymond Felton, 28 at the time, who played very solid, averaging around 14 points and five assists per game. If this Knicks team had a younger point guard option, like Chris Paul, I believe they would have had a lot more ball movement and another solid scoring option to pair with Anthony.

The 2012-13 New York Knicks team was one of the many reasons why I fell in love with basketball. After years of being on the verge of competing for a championship, as a former Knicks fan, this roster finally gave me hope. One of my favorite memories from this team was when Anthony scored 50 points on the Miami Heat. This game was towards the end of the season and a few weeks before the start of the playoffs. Lebron James and Dwayne Wade sat out because they had already clinched the first seed in the east. On the other hand, the Knicks were a half-game behind the Pacers for the second seed, so Anthony decided to play.

I loved this game so much because we got to see Anthony score in every way he knew. Anthony was lights out to start in this game, going 7-for-7, and finished shooting 70 percent from three and 69 percent from the field. The game showed why Anthony is among the best scorers in the history of the NBA. Even though this team failed to accomplish its goal of winning a championship, I can say as a fan that I enjoyed watching this team compete.

Although this New York Knicks team's glory was short-lived with a second-round exit to the Indiana Pacers, this team was very entertaining to watch. It gave the fans in New York something to be passionate about and made the entire league more entertaining. When big market teams perform well, it is good for the overall success of the NBA.