The Night The Knicks Almost Beat The Spurs
Friday night was both heartbreaking and hopeful for fans of the New York Knicks after a 100-99 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, with Jose Calderon missing a potential game-winning buzzer-beater.
I wonder how many years being a New York Knicks fan has taken off my life.
I mean, I’m still a young fella, but I’m talking at the back end. Definitely in the four- to five-year range at this point and with a long time until I kick the bucket, we could be getting up to double-digits sometime soon.
Coming into Friday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Knicks had been playing arguably their best basketball of the season.
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Riding a three-game win streak that consisted of road wins at the Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat as well as a home win agains the Hawks, New York seemed to be finding its stride! Playoff push! Here we go!
Boom.
Talk about running into a wall. Surely, the Knicks’ good fortunes would evaporate in front of arguably the best team in the NBA! Oh, and that team also happens to be on their home court, a place they hadn’t lost in 30 consecutive games.
But hey, the Knicks not only made this thing a game, they scared the pants off Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan! At the end, it wasn’t quite enough though, as Jose Calderon came up just short on a game winner and New York fell to 18-20 on the season.
Friday night was an absolute example of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Only this time, that trio consisted of the great, the good, and the heartbreaking. As a Knicks fan and writer, I think it’s only fair to start with the most depressing of those three.
The Heartbreaking
Soooooo close.
After forcing a miss on the other end and a Langston Galloway rebound, Carmelo Anthony held the ball at the top of the key for a final shot with the score 100-99. Despite having one available, coach Derek Fisher elected not to call a timeout and instead hoped to catch the top-ranked San Antonio Spurs off guard.
It worked! Melo drove to his left and three Spurs defenders collapsed onto him, leaving Jose Calderon open in the corner and for what might have been the first time in his career, Anthony passed up the game winner to dish to his teammate.
And he just missed it.
This is the type of thing that happens in basketball, with guys missing open shots all the time. After all, it’s a game of misses and almost everybody shoots less than 50 percent from the field (Calderon himself shoots 41 percent behind the arc and is considered to be the Knicks; most consistent shooter).
BUT GOD IT JUST HURTS SO BAD.
To do everything well on that final possession, from forcing a Spurs miss to snagging the rebound to not calling a TO and finally to getting the open look, the Knicks played that situation perfectly and still came up empty-handed.
Sometimes, that’s just going to happen. Fisher came right over to Melo after Calderon’s miss and reassured him he made the right call though, which hopefully means we’ll see more of selfless Anthony in those late-game situations.
The Good!
Oh yeah baby, more absurd Arron Afflalo jumpers that have no business going in.
In reality, Afflalo struggled Friday night and so did Anthony, with the Knicks’ two most prolific scorers going a combined 8-for-28 shooting. The good in that is how the Knicks responded.
We’ll talk more about Kristaps Porzingis later–the rookie would lead the Knicks scoring efforts with 28 points–but the rest of the team stepped up as well.
Robin Lopez dropped 12 points to continue his recent string of strong performances, while Lance Thomas started the game with eight points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting mark in the first quarter, finishing with 10.
The backcourt duo of Jerian Grant and Galloway both gave New York plenty of pop off the bench, picking up Calderon’s poor shooting night as they would combine for 7-for-13 shooting and 17 points. Galloway added a huge three-point play in transition late in the fourth quarter as well, bringing the Knicks within two.
It’s nice to know that even when three of the Knicks starters (Anthony, Afflalo, Calderon) combine for just 10-for-32 shooting, the rest of the team can pick up the slack and give the NBA’s best defense a great game.
Obviously the Knicks will need those starters to play better consistently down the stretch if they want to be playing for the playoffs, but still a nice ability to have in Fisher’s back pocket.
The Great!!!
Could Porzingis be anymore lit?
The big fella not only had arguably his best performance yet Friday night, dropping 28 points, 11 rebounds, and shooting 11-for-21 against a seemingly defenseless Spurs team that ranks No. 1 in doing just that, but also did that really cool soccer thing.
I mean seriously, the dude just casually juggles the ball twice without it touching the ground off a rebound, then palms it and tosses it to the referee. My man didn’t even make a show of it, just went out there and did the coolest move of the night.
Oh and also, the kid absolutely balled out.
That stepback was one of many Kristaps hit last night, as the Latvian sensation continues to build his case for Rookie of the Year. Porzingis would also hit 3-of-7 three-point balls and at points, seemed to be the Knicks leader on offense.
This might be a bit of a knee-jerk reaction, but if Kristaps stopped improving right now and this was the player he would be for the next 10-15 years, I think most Knicks fans would be cool with that.
A lot of people will say that there’s no such thing as a moral victory at the professional level of sports, but if there is, last night was certainly it for the Knicks.
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Hopefully, the team will be able to move on from what was their toughest stretch of the season with the knowledge that when they’re at their best, they can compete with anyone.