The Knicks and 76ers played a game just terrible enough to be amazing
New York walked off with the double-OT win.
After then all hell broke lose.
There was chaos everywhere as the 76ers -- sans Jahlil Okafor -- began clawing their way back into the game. Big dunks and missed dunks. Centers schooling players with hesitation moves. Ish Smith did his best Steve Nash impersonation (minus the 8-28 output from the field) and made Jose Calderon seem more statuesque than ever. He finished the game with 16 points and 16 assists and led the furious Philadelphia comeback. (Why the Knicks and Derek Fisher thought it was a good idea to keep Jose Calderon on Smith is unclear.)
Following a three-pointer by Hollis Thompson and a jumper by Smith, it was looking bleak for the Knicks. They trailed by three with seconds remaining. And then, Carmelo Anthony stepped and canned a game-tying three with less than four seconds remaining in regulation.
It was a classic Melo shot. Down three with the clock ticking down, he elected to pound the ball into the floor instead of driving to the hoop. Lucky for him, and the Knicks, Nerlens Noel elected not to foul -- which would have kept Anthony from even taking a three-pointer -- and also inexplicably kept backing up. Both decision were bad ones.
In overtime Smith -- yes, Ish Smith, a 27-year-old journeyman -- continued to be too much for the Knicks to handle. And with 1:11 left in the overtime period, this happened.
But just as it looked like the 76ers were running away, the Knicks clawed back -- despite Kristaps Porzingis leaving the game with a foot injury -- and took a three-point lead. Which, of course, was promptly erased when Robert Covington banked in a three-pointer with 7.4 seconds left in OT.
Anthony, who finished the game with 19 points and seven assists, got a good look on the next possession -- a step-back jumper in the paint -- but it clanked off the backboard.
It was time for overtime No. 2, and there the Knicks pulled away. Langston Galloway, who barely saw the floor during regulation, used his fresh legs to stifle Smith and create some baskets in the paint. The Knicks also continued to knock down their foul shots. They finished 25-28 from the line, while the Sixers misfired on 12 of their 25 attempts.
More than three hours after tip off, the Knicks were able to walk off their home court with a 119-113 win. What a strange, fun MLK Day matinee that turned out to be.
