Now that All Star Weekend is behind us, we can look forward to the second half of the lockout shortened season.

Most Knicks fans are hoping that the injured players got some rest and that they stay healthy for the remainder of the season. If that happens, good things will happen for the Knicks.

Right now, the Knicks are 17-18 on the season which has them seventh in the Eastern Conference and they are four games behind the Atlantic Division leading Philadelphia Sixers. Tonight, the Knicks take on the Cleveland Cavaliers who won the first meeting between the two teams 91-81 on January 25. Since then the Knicks have compiled a 8-3 record thanks in part to Jeremy Lin’s heroics.

After the Cavs game, the Knicks’ schedule gets tough. In their next six games, they will be playing a bunch of teams with records over .500 – a combined .669 – so if the Knicks want to show their fans – and the league – that they’re for real, the next couple of weeks will be the time to do it.

Some good news for the Knicks the return of both Iman Shumpert and Josh Harrelson are scheduled to return to the lineup tonight. Again, a healthy Knicks squad will make good things happen.

Here’s a special treat for those who may have missed it. Last night, some of the Knicks attended a season subscriber forum where they hung out with season ticket holders at a restaurant on the Lower East Side. Landry Fields and Iman Shumpert showed off some musical skills. In the video below, Fields reworks the lyrics of Billionaire by Travie McCoy. Yes, he talks about winning rings. Enjoy!

Guess who has won four games in a row? That’s right, your New York Knickerbockers. What’s more? They ended Philadelphia’s six game winning streak.

As usual, things got hairy in the fourth quarter. Hairy AND ugly. The Knicks at one point were up by 17 points. Then they went over five minutes without scoring a field goal.

Overall they shot 42% from the floor, they were 6-22 from behind the arc, they made 15-19 from the stripe and they pulled down 46 rebounds.

They started off strong and ended the first quarter with a five minute long, 13-0 run. That run probably helped them in the end.

Carmelo Anthony scored 12 points on 5-10 shooting in the third quarter alone. He finished with 27. Amar’e Stoudemire added 20 and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Josh Harrelson scored 13 off the bench and rookie Iman Shumpert finished with 10 points. Tyson Chandler was quiet shooting-wise, scoring only three points but he finished with 13 rebounds.

Knicks had 24 turnovers in the game – twelve in the fourth quarter alone. They average fourteen a game.

Even though the Sixers weren’t at full strength, it was still impressive that the Knicks held them to 79 points. For once the “de-fense!” chants worked!

Next up for the boys, a trip to Memphis to face the Grizzlies. For Time Warner subscribers, the game is on TNT tomorrow night at 8 so you can watch it!

Can they make it five in a row? Tune in and find out.

I apologize for the tardiness of this recap but last night was New Year’s Eve and I had to switch to Dick Clark’s show as soon as the Knicks game ended. It’s tradition and as Julia Roberts and the rest of the girls say in Mystic Pizza, “You don’t monkey with tradition.”

Anyway, last night was a much better showing by the Knickerbockers as they demolished the reeling Kings 114-92. Six Knick players scored in double figures – Carmelo Anthony led the way with 23 – and they were able to win without Amar’e Stoudemire who sat out with a sprained left ankle.

The Knicks went on a 19-2 run in the first quarter and cruised the entire way. Tyson Chandler was right behind Anthony with 22 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Landry Fields added 21 points and five rebounds – eight of his points were scored during that 19-2 run.

Rookie Josh Harrelson who played in place of Stoudemire, scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in his first start with the Knicks. He also had the best shot of the night when he banked in a three pointer early in the second quarter. The Knicks were 8-17 from behind the three point line in the first half which helped them have a commanding 56-42 lead at halftime.

The poor Kings who have now lost by double digits three games in a row, were awful from every spot on the floor. They were 30 of 86 overall, 6 of 22 from behind the arc and only hit 26 out of 41 foul shots on the night.

This is the kind of game that the Knicks should win. They were able to jump out to an early lead and not look back. They were able to do without Stoudemire, with their depleted back court and with rookie Harrelson making his NBA debut. Oh and they’re .500 on the year and in a first place tie with the Philadelphia Sixers! Granted, they’ve only played four games but hey, it could be worse, they could be 1-3 or 0-4.

Here are the highlights of the game, in case you missed them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAyJbsBUCG8

Next up for the Knicks are the Toronto Raptors. The game is tomorrow night at 7:30p at MSG.