The Knicks have won much more this season than anyone could have imagined and done with elegance.
And in the last six days, the Knicks have lost three games in possession to the two best teams in the Eastern Conference – one for the Nets and two for the Sixers.
And the Knicks did not do it so elegantly.
Julius Randle of Knicks All-Star can start writing his NBA donation check after his unholy 25-second post-game Zoom call. A furious Randle blamed the two-person referee team for costing them the loss – a 101-100 heartbreaker in the Garden.
It was less than a week ago when a furious Randle tried to go after referee Scott Foster at the Barclays Center, but was stopped by his teammates.
A last-second play in which Randle was called on a journey of ups and downs made him nervous. He was not fined by the league, but this time it is a dunk.
Sunday night ended with Tobias Harris of Sixers hitting two free throws with 5.3 seconds to give Philly a 1 point advantage after Randle’s loose ball foul.
It ended with Randle – and Tom Thibodeau – yelling at the arbitration team with few employees for announcing the infraction. Randle has been a rock and an iron man, but he may need to moderate some things. He already has seven technicians. Because of the COVID-19 security protocols, the arbitration team lost an arbitrator, forced to work with two instead of three. The Knicks apparently tried to challenge Randle’s decision, but they never got the message out in time, according to the referees.
In the contested play, Randle was marked with a forearm on Harris’ back when the Long Islander prepared for a rebound. With Harris dislodged, Knicks center Nerlens Noel grabbed the starfruit.
He was waved by the whistle and Harris had his free throws. And Long Islander, who beat the Knicks five days ago with 30 points, did both in the clutch.
Randle answered a question after the game before he left, claiming that this violent defensive battle should not have been decided by such a poor act.
“Wrong call from the authorities,” said Randle. “There is not enough contact for them to call the play. I don’t know who it was – Nerlens [Noel] – but clearly he had possession. After all the mess and everything that was going on, they call it that and decide that the game is ridiculous. They have to do a better job. There are many games like this. ”
Randle then abandoned Zoom’s call before he could be asked about the next move.
After Harris’ free throws, the Knicks star sped on the court, got a decent look before his potential game winner rang the doorbell. Randle ended the night shooting 7 of 21 – one of his worst lines of fire in his masterful season.
Thibodeau was furious, too, on the sides and even entered the court at a certain time.
“They said we didn’t challenge,” said Thibodeau.
He also raised the idea that Randle’s lack was not happening with the overtime battle.
“Usually, at the end of the game, there will be – as they would say – marginal contact, accidental contact, any other type of contact,” said Thibodeau. “All I know is that we were being hit hard and there was no marginal contact on that, so … ”
And. If the Knicks’ argument is that you don’t call a foul in this situation, it will not be undone in the analysis of the video. It is a bloodless process.
From the mouth of cats came the comments of RJ Barrett, 20, who would not go there.
“I just want to win,” said Barrett. “Referees or not, we have to win the game. ”
This was a fantastic defensive duel, with the Knicks fighting again without the guards Derrick Rose and Elfrid Payton.
Thibodeau used the swingman Alec Burks on the stretch to make the point. An attack led by Burks forced the Sixers into overtime and almost ended it, with the swingman scoring 20 points.
The Knicks could be angry, but on this day, it felt wrong.
They are not the enemy of the East, Charlotte, who reportedly lost her rookie LaMelo Ball this season with a fractured hand. And they are not the Lakers, who will play without LeBron James indefinitely after his sprained ankle.
And they’re not the Rockets, whose debut coach Stephen Silas hid his face and barely managed to utter a sound on Sunday when asked if the team’s 20-game losing streak was affecting his club.
At 21-22, the Knicks may want to see the bright side. They are starting to get healthy and Burks will soon be able to return to his normal position.
Rose may be back on Tuesday against Washington and an attack that amounted to 85 points during the regulation will be rekindled.
Pivot Mitchell Robinson returned from an absence of 15 games and was extremely rusty – hitting three generally automatic strokes. Newcomer Immanuel Quickley, after an absence from a game with a sprained ankle, started again and was not ready (4 of 12). The Knicks are better when Quickley is coming off the bench as a sixth man and aligned with Rose. It will happen soon.
Barrett admitted that the locker room was furious.
“Everyone wants to win,” said Barrett. “When we lose, especially in a game like this, a game that we should have won, it’s a difficult way to lose. ”
It is also a difficult way to overreact – Randle in particular.