The Knicks have earned a lot more this season than anyone could have imagined and they did it gracefully.
And in the last six days, the Knicks have lost three games in their final possession to the top two teams in the Eastern Conference – once to the Nets and Sixers twice.
And the Knicks did this not so gracefully.
All-Star Knicks, Julius Randle, can start writing his NBA donation check after the profane 25-second Zoom call after the game. A Randle smoker blamed the crew of two people for costing them the loss – a heartbreaker of 101-100 overtime hours in the garden.
It was less than a week ago, when a furious Randle tried to go after referee Scott Foster at Barclays Center, but was detained by his teammates.
A last-minute play in which Randle was called for a journey up and down threw him into a tizzy. He has not been fined by the league, but this time it is a slam dunk.
Sunday night ended with Sixers’ Tobias Harris sinking two free throws with 5.3 seconds left to give Philly a 1-point lead after a Randle free-kick error.
It ended with Randle – and Tom Thibodeau – screaming at the crew of officers shortened for reporting the crime. Randle was a rock and an ironman, but maybe he’ll have to downplay some things. He already has seven techniques. Due to COVID-19 safety protocols, the officer’s crew was down one referee, forced to work with two instead of three. It appears the Knicks tried to challenge Randle’s call, but never received the message in the allotted time, according to the referees.
In the game in question, Randle was marked for a forearm behind Harris, while Long Islander was ready for recovery. With Harris deployed, Knicks center Nerlens Noel snatched the carom.
He was waved his whistle and Harris had his free throws. And Long Islander, who beat the Knicks five points five days ago, did both in the clutch.
Randle answered a post-game question before rushing in, arguing that this fierce defensive struggle should not have been decided by such a weak act.
“Wrong call by officials,” Randle said. “There is not enough contact for them to participate in the play. I don’t know who it was – Nerlens [Noel] – but he clearly had possession. After all the mistakes and everything that was happening, for them to name that and decide the game is ridiculous. He needs to do a better job. There are too many games like this. ”
Randle exited the Zoom call before he could be asked about the next song.
After Harris’s free throws, the Knicks star rushed to the field, looking decent before his potential winner came out on the buzzer. Randle finished the night shooting 7 of 21 – one of the worst shooting lines of his peak season.
And Thibodeau unleashed himself on the sidelines and even entered the field at one point.
“They said we don’t provoke,” Thibodeau said.
He also raised the idea that Randle’s foul did not become a fight with late overtime.
“Usually, at the end of the game, there will be – as they say – marginal contact, incidental contact, any other type of contact,” Thibodeau said. “All I know is that we were hit very hard and there was no marginal contact in this regard, so …”
So what. If Knicks’ argument is that you do not call a foul in that situation, it will not be canceled following the video review. It’s a bloodless trial.
From the children’s mouths came the remarks of RJ Barrett, 20, who was not going to go there.
“I just want to win,” Barrett said. “Referees or without referees, we have to win the game.”
It was an extraordinary defensive fight, as the Knicks fought again without goalkeepers Derrick Rose and Elfrid Payton.
Thibodeau used Alec Burks, a swing, on the stretch to run. A Burks-led offense forced the Sixers to make overtime and almost squeaked, with the swinger scoring 20 points.
Knicks might feel angry, but on this day, he seemed to be no more.
I’m not the eastern enemy Charlotte, who, as they say, lost her beginner LaMelo Ball for the season, with a fractured hand. And it’s not the Lakers, who will play without LeBron James indefinitely after his high ankle sprain.
And it’s not the Rockets, whose rookie coach Stephen Silas buried his face and could barely make a sound on Sunday when asked if the team’s 20-game losing streak has reached his club.
At 21-22, the Knicks might have wanted to look at the bright side. They’re starting to get healthy, and Burks may soon be back to normal.
Rose could return to Washington on Tuesday and an offense that garnered 85 points during regulation will be revived.
The Mitchell Robinson center recovered from a 15-game absence and was extremely rusty – usually blowing three automatic innings. Rookie Immanuel Quickley, after a one-game absence with an ankle sprain, started again and was unprepared (4 of 12). The Knicks are the best when Quickley comes off the bench as the sixth man and aligns with Rose. It will happen soon.
Barrett admitted the locker room was upset.
“Everyone wants to win,” Barrett said. “When we lose, especially a game like this, a game we should have won, it’s a difficult way to lose.”
It’s also a difficult way to overreact – especially Randle.