Up by just three points with 59 seconds to play, a disoriented P.J. Tucker made one of the most hilarious and egregious mistakes of the season. Following a made shot by the Knicks, Eric Gordon went to inbound the ball to him, but Tucker just stared at the ball, and appeared to think he was on defense.
2 real reasons and 1 fake one for P.J. Tucker’s mind-boggling late-game meltdown
Why did Tucker refuse to touch the ball under his own hoop when he was on offense?
Noah Vonleh scooped up the easy steal and scored an easy layup. Just look at Gordon’s face after it all unfolded.
Head coach Mike D’Antoni’s explanation:
D’Antoni: Eric threw it in when he was out of bounds, P.J. didn’t understand was he in bounds? Was he out of bounds? Can I grab it? Can I not grab it? Do I grab it and walk out of bounds with it? 300 things went through his mind. We just got to be more disciplined and have a certain guy take it out of bounds each time. When you don’t do that, it throws everything into a tizzy.
But really, who knows?
Another possible real reason
Tucker might’ve missed that Gordon threw the ball in, because it looks like he was waiting for the referee to pick the ball up. He was in an athletic stance, so he wasn’t completely zoned out from the game. He just seemed ... confused.
A fake reason
There’s another suspicion, too. Tucker is famous for eating pancakes before every game he plays in. It’s kind of gross, but mostly impressive, and he posts each meal on Instagram.
P.J. might’ve had some bad pancakes that can no longer be trusted. He ate these blueberry and sourdough ones:
OK, maybe it wasn’t the pancakes, but really, there isn’t a viable explanation here. It’s a forever mystery.
Luckily it didn’t end up costing his team the game. James Harden’s 61 points saved the day.
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