If you're a Knicks fan, that one stung last night. To blow a 10-point lead with five minutes left in regulation to then lose in overtime? The charter to Los Angeles must not have been a comfortable one for the Knicks.
And then they woke up this morning to rain in Southern California.
I told you, we bring the doom-and-gloom. Blizzards in Charlotte. Tornados in Orlando. Precipitation in SoCal.
Still waiting on the locusts. Maybe in Oakland.
The Knicks know they can only blame themselves for the bad loss. "We hurt ourselves," Jamal Crawford said of the nine turnovers in the fourth quarter and overtime.
But the game might have been over sooner than that if the Jazz could hit free throws. They hit just 15 of 27 in the game (55.6 percent). Andrei Kirilenko missed three of his four attempts. Deron Williams made just one of his three. Paul Millsap was just 4 of 8.
The foul differential was fairly equal in the game -- the Knicks were called for 25 and the Jazz 23 -- but the Knicks had a serious problem with the officiating crew of Ron Garrestson, Phil Robinson and Leon Wood. There was the phantom Eddy Curry elbow called by Garretson, who hung a technical foul on Curry in the first half. There was the tech on David Lee -- arguably justified -- called by Wood, who didn't like the hand gesture Lee gave him. Wood decided Lee was not fouled by Mehmet Okur on his fourth-quarter dunk. Instead of a three-point play for the Knicks, it wound up a gift point for the Jazz. These things matter in hindsight when regulation ends in a tie.
Lee took the hit for his untimely explosion -- Isiah Thomas is lucky he wasn't hit with a tech after he jumped up and down on the court in protest of the call -- and chalked it up to "a heat-of-the-moment thing."
"That's the way life is on the road in the NBA," Lee said. "I should have done a better job handling my emotions. I apologize for that."
Another point of frustration was the no-call on Jamal Crawford's desperation three-pointer at the buzzer of regulation. Crawford ripped off his headband and scowled at the officials.
It's one game and the Knicks have no reason to make too much noise about it. The way I've seen it this season, they regularly get the benefit of calls. Curry has started to gain the respect of the officials, who, aside from last night, are calling less offensive fouls against him. The Knicks go to the line with the most frequency of any team in the NBA, which is a sign of their determination to get to the basket and a sign of the officials recognizing it.
But if they start getting demonstrative when calls don't go their way, that can change quickly.
Comments (7)
Terrible loss for the Knicks last night. A loss that really bothered me because a win against a playoff team on the road would’ve done wonders for the Knicks’ confidence.
Now I’m one who hates blaming external factors when a team loses, but the refs screwed the Knicks several times and cost them a win. Crawford got fouled at the end of regulation and if the refs correctly called that, Crawford would’ve hit the free throws and we would’ve won. Then you have the Curry and Lee technicals. The guy who guarded Curry, flopped, and Curry showed a rare anger, but you can’t give him a tech for that. The Lee one was even worse. Lee got fouled on the dunk and instead of a possible 3-point play; they get the free free throw. Now of course the Knicks blew and choked away a double digit 4th quarter lead and they have no one to blame but themselves for that, but they still put themselves in a good enough position where they could’ve won the game right before the 4th quarter ended. The refs just didn’t give them that chance, mainly because they were on the road and the league/refs don’t have any respect for the Knicks as of yet.
By the way, Isiah, can you please stop starting James? The guy is horrific, and we all know you’re only starting him because you’re trying to make that signing look a little better. Start Frye, who looks lost off the bench.
Also, can we please see Balkman?!?!? What has he done for him not to play? He’s one of your best (and only) defenders.
I’m afraid the Francis return is going to hurt the team’s chemistry. Granted, he had a good game but I wonder if it’s a coincidence or not that the Knicks are over .500 when he’s out and well under .500 when he plays. I still think he should be bought out or traded.
At what point is Isiah going to start running a play at the end of regulation or OT with a chance to win it? I've seen a number of times where he puts the ball in Crawford's hands and Jamal proceeds to dribble and juke and finally throws up a desperation heave that usually misses.
It's amazing what the Garden hype machine will do to keep up interest in the Knicks. Curry should have been an All-Star, Marbury is maturing, Lee is a rebounding machine, Crawford is Dr. Clutch, etc. With all of this, don't you think their record should be better then 22-29? Across the Hudson, the Nets are seemingly falling apart with injuries and off the court dealings (Kidd and Carter divorce) yet still have a better record then the Knicks. I feel bad for all the Knick beat writers who get teased by a two game wining streak (I don't mean that to insult you, either). Had they beat Utah, I was expecting the Post to run some "Knicks could make some noise in the East Playoffs" article. Jamal being Jamal put an end to that.
Just another 8-on-5 game in Utah... that's why teams can't stand going there.
Had they beat Utah, I was expecting the Post to run some "Knicks could make some noise in the East Playoffs" article. Jamal being Jamal put an end to that.
Am I the only person who remembers that heard at the beginning of that game walt frazier and alan mentioning the knicks beat them 4 or 5 times in a row counting this year.
but I wonder if it’s a coincidence or not that the Knicks are over .500 when he’s out and well under .500 when he plays. I still think he should be bought out or traded.
What the heck are you talking about the Knicks have never been above .500 stop making up stories. Although I do agree with you that balkman needs to start more and james should not be in the starting lineup. It should be someone like frye or lee.
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