The Knicks had not won a game outside of New York since beating Atlanta on November 13th and even with the lowly Bucks up next on the schedule, a win for the Knicks is anything but a certainty. Pressure seems to be at an all-time high for the Orange & Blue after the team’s most recent debacle especially for Mike Woodson who attempted to diffuse the potentially combustible situation by saying that General Manager, Steve Mills has been supportive of the beleaguered head coach throughout. That and the return of former Defensive MVP Tyson Chandler had to make Coach Woodson a bit more at ease.
The game certainly had its ebbs and flows throughout but neither team held a lead larger than 2 at the conclusion of any quarter until the deciding second overtime. New York’s de facto big three of Melo, Smith & Bargnani shot a combined 22 for 68 yet were collectively +20 for the game. Displaying exactly how inept and inefficient Milwaukee was playing without their top two scores O.J. Mayo (13.9, bereavement) & Caron Butler (13.2, Knee.)
New York had the opportunity to take the lead nearing the end of regulation but 3rd string PG Beno Udrih miss a baseline jumper. The play featured a high pick and roll between Chandler and Udrih but was only a decoy used to create space to allow Melo operating room in isolation. Last season’s scoring champion couldn’t elude Kris Middleton before swinging it back around to Urdih. It must’ve felt like déjà vu for NY who found themselves on the verge of losing another game on its final possession but would persevere as Milwaukee failed to covert on successive attempts by John Henson and Middleton.
In the waning moments of the initial overtime NY found themselves up by 2 points but following a miss by Anthony, and subsequent save by Chandler to Andrea Bargnani inexplicably heaved up a three pointer instead of holding on to the ball to secure the victory or head to the free throw line to ice it. The awful decision afforded Milwaukee new life. A life they took full advantage of after Henderson cashed in on the opportunity with an easy put back off a wild Brandon Knight miss with only 0:00.3 to go. Melo couldn’t convert on a long range jumper as time expired. That would be the last big shot Melo would miss. The dagger, a 3 pointer with just 50 seconds remaining in the 2nd OT gave the Knicks a 104-98 lead. From there Melo would hit 3 out of 4 free throws to secure the win for his desperate Knicks team 107-101.
Notes:
Asked about his mental lapse, Bargnani said “regardless of the mistake he is happy for the win” New York only scored 12 points off 24 Milwaukee turnovers.
JR Smith shot 5-17 from 3 point range. The two teams combined to shoot 39% from the field (111-183.)
Wilson Caicedo:PureSportsNY