Everybody loves Raymond, now.

The word around town today is that the Knicks lost last night's game because Carmelo was serving his one game suspension. That is true, I can't argue against it but let's be honest.

This team was having issues winning the past month even with Carmelo and for one very important reason and that is no Raymond Felton.

When the Knicks have faced teams with very quick guards without the help of Raymond, Jason Kidd and Prigioni simply look like statues and if their shots weren't falling the Knicks were certain to lose. The games that the Knicks were able to win Carmelo had to rack up 35 or 45 points.

The Knicks had some success without Felton because Anthony is a scoring juggernaut at times but when he is off his game only Raymond can orchestrate the point guard position well enough to get other players in position to score.

Amare Stoudemire is very rusty and looking like a shell of his former self but only because the current Knicks point guards don't handle the ball ferociously enough to keep defenses off balance which would allow for more space for Amar'e to operate.

The return of Iman Shumpert will certainly make the Knicks a better team on defense but this offense is not going to return to being the well oiled machine we witnessed early in the season until Raymond Felton returns to carry the load at the point.

Knicks Lose Again, Pacers 81 - Knicks 76

Beating them is quite simple

The Knicks are a very good team but the book on beating them is quite simple. Get underneath their skin and they will lose their composure, play offense out of revenge and they will argue with the referees leading to technical fouls.

The Celtics knew full well what to do to beat the Knicks tonight and now so does the rest of the league.

Anthony spent the bulk of the second half locked in yelling and shoving matches with Kevin Garnett and his shooting was affected negatively.

You would think that Anthony would have worked to get close shots at the rim since his jumper wasn't falling and Novack was a ghost but no. Anthony kept missing jumpers leading to the Knicks latest loss.

Let's see if Carmelo Anthony and his gang will take the next big step to become an elite team and that step is maturity.

Knicks Lose Again, Celtics 102 - Knicks 96

A bunch of slow old men

With Amare Stoudemire unable to shake of his rust, Prigioni constantly duped into going for steals and JR Smith being beaten off the dribble for easy layups the Knicks looked like a bunch of slow old men tonight against the Portland Trailblazers.

Again the Knicks played poorly on defense early in the game and fell into an insurmountable hole.

Carmelo Anthony got his 30, which he always does, but tonight the Knicks back court had no answer for the quickness and shooting ability of the Blazers.

By double teaming Anthony and forcing the Knicks to get scoring elsewhere the Blazers went on to have the victory despite a late mini run by the Knicks.

If the Knicks guards can't solve the give and go and cannot cease to be baited into failed steal attempts this team will quickly fall to .500. Raymond Felton was truly missed this evening.

Knicks Lose Again, Blazers 105 - Knicks 100