With my football season coming to an end, I went to Madison Square Garden after getting some sleep during the day to see the Knicks host the Washington Wizards.
As for the game I saw, the Wizards hung tough with the Knicks for most of the game then the Knicks put them away in the fourth quarter as they won 115-106!
Amar'e Stoudemire led the way with 30 points and 9 rebounds. Wilson Chandler added 25 points while Danilo Gallanari finished with 17 points.
Nick Young was the Wizards high scorer with 22 points. Recently acquired Rashard Lewis had 20 points. Rookie John Wall poured in 18 points and he dished out 9 assists.
After going back to work Tuesday I came home to rest up.
Wednesday night I braved the elements and I made the trek to Newark to see the Nets take on the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies led this one after the first quarter 32-16 then they gradually disappeared as the game wore on. They wound up losing, 93-88!
Anthony Morrow paced the Nets off the bench as he scored a team high 19 points. Brook Lopez added 17 points in the process.
As for the Grizzlies, Rudy Gay finished with 22 points and Zach Randolph had 20 points to go along with 16 rebounds in the loss.
Thursday night I went back to the Garden to see the return of the Miami Heat.
This time the Knicks emerged victorious, 93-88!
The Big Three was missing Chris Bosh. Dwayne Wade had a great game as he scored 34 points and he grabbed 16 rebounds but he missed 8 free throws which proved to be costly as the Heat came up short.
LeFraud once again heard the serenade of boos when he touched the ball. He shot only 7 for 24 and he finished with 24 points and he manage to collect 11 boards.
For the Knicks, Amar'e Stoudemire who was named one of the Eastern Conference starting All-Stars before the game. He went on to score 24 points to help the Knicks beat the Heat.
Rookie Landry Fields added 19 points, ripped down 13 rebounds and he handed out 6 assists. In the process, he became the first Knick rookie to do so since Walt Frazier did that feat way back in 1968.
Friday night I went to rest up for the busy weekend I had planned.
Saturday morning I went to Avis and I rented a car for the weekend.
I proceeded to drive to Astoria to pick up the King. After doing so, I drove into Manhattan to meet our friend Mike Carroll who joined us for the minor league hockey doubleheader we were seeing.
The first game was in Hershey, Pennsylvania at 2PM. The back to back Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears were hosting the Charlotte Checkers.
As for the game we saw, the hometown Bears scored the only goal of the game when former NHL player Sheldon Souray lit the lamp midway through the third period to give the Bears the 1-0 victory.
After the game we drove to Reading, PA to see our second game at 7:05PM.
On the way to Reading we stopped off in Bethel, PA and we had dinner at the Midway Diner which is located conveniently right off Exit 16 on I-78.
After having a nice inexpensive full course meal we continued on to Reading.
We arrived just in time to make the opening faceoff between the visiting Greenville Road Warriors who relocated from Johnstown, PA this season and the Reading Royals on Penn State night.
To celebrate this special occasion, the Royals worn a special uniform that resembled the Nittany Lions. They had big numbers on both sides of their navy blue jerseys.
Unlike the game we saw in Hershey, the first goal came just 40 seconds into the game as the Royals took the early 1-0 lead. They added two more goals to make it 3-0 just past the midway mark of the first period.
The Road Warriors stormed back with 2 quick goals only 9 seconds apart later in the first period to get back into the game at 3-2.
After a scoreless second period, the Royals added an insurance goal early in the third period to make it 4-2. That's the way it ended as the Royals came away with the victory.
Needless to say, we all had a great time in the Keystone State.
Sunday morning the King and I picked up my good friend and big supporter of Royalty over the years, Manny Morales. It's always a pleasure to have Manny on board with us.
He saw my schedule on the blog and he contacted me so he could take a "royal" ride to Poughkeepsie, NY which is located in the Hudson Valley about 100 miles from NYC.
We went to see Manhattan College visit the Red Foxes of Marriott. On paper it wasn't the most attractive matchup since both teams are playing very bad so far this season.
As for the game we saw it was very competitive throughout the contest. Marist had a few chances to put the Jaspers of Manhattan away at the free throw line but they missed free throws down the stretch that allowed Manhattan to have a chance at an improbable win.
With just 2 seconds to play, the visiting Jaspers of Manhattan had to go the length of the court to score to tie or win the game.
Michael Alvarado dribbled the ball up to just before the halfcourt line and he threw the ball up towards the basket and it banked off the backboard and in to give the Jaspers an incredible 60-59 come from behind win.
Needless to say, the crowd was in stunned disbelief. I couldn't believe it either. What a finish we saw.
After the game we dropped Manny off in Manhattan and the King and I went to the Garden to see the Knicks play the Detroit Pistons.
I wound up returning the car to Avis before I headed to the Garden. I drove 582 miles over the weekend.
As for the Knick game, the Knicks wound up beating up the Pistons rather easily, 124-106!
Amar'e Stoudemire led the way with 33 points despite playing with a twisted ankle. Danilo Gallanari added 29 points while seldom used Timofey Mozgov came off the bench and poured in 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
For the Pistons, Ben Gordon scored 35 points and Greg Monroe added 15 points to go along with his 17 boards in the defeat.
As always, thank you for reading and following the adventures of Royalty.
If and when you get tired of reading about it and you want to be part of it just let me know so I can arrange to have you join us.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
