THAT SUCKED. 5 Reasons Why Philly 101 NY 100 in OT, on 3-21-21

March 22, 2021 LouV 2020-21 0

Well that SUCKED. It all came down to the final two fucking plays. The Knicks up by a point and playing terrific D, Philly’s Shake Milton driving, missing the final shot with 5 seconds left — the Knicks’ Nerlens Noel rebounding — KNICKS WIN!

NO — A FOUL CALLED.

On Julius Randle, who pushed Tobias Harris from behind a bit — incidental contact in this heavy-contact, defensive struggle.

NO ref calls it a FOUL.

And Tobias Harris, who had no real chance to get the rebound and shoot on the play — to the line to shoot 2 free throws. He made them, and with no timeouts left the Knicks had to run the length of the court to get off a shot with 5 seconds left. Julius Randle did that but his jumper in the lane, on the run, rolled in… and out.

Knicks Lose.

The 5 reasons why the score was what it was:

1. Bad Ref Call

Reason #1 is all of the above. Coach Tom Thibodeau argued that in a game of heavy contact, where Philly got away with a lot of heavy contact that wasn’t called — that call on Randle should not have been made.

To add salt to the injury, the Knicks called timeout after the foul call, and apparently Thibs did not make it clear to the refs that he was challenging the call. So at some point during the Knicks timeout Thibs found out the refs were not reviewing the play, which caused further argument.

The ref — as Knicks Twitter immediately pointed out (and provided picture) — was former 76’er Leon Wood.

The game only had 2 refs — the 3rd ref couldn’t make it and the NBA couldn’t provide a replacement in time — that by itself drawing ire from Knicks fans; the game played at Madison Square Garden, a few blocks from NBA headquarters; the NBA makes $billions a year. It is not a softball league.

Tom Thibodeau had this to say:

Knick fan Geno pointed out, “Tobias was even fouling Noel to stop the clock. He knew he didnโ€™t get fouled.”

It is hard to find a twitter video snippet of the play from a major account, but here it is presented by a fan:

And here’s how close Randle came to winning the game after that:

2. Randle Heroics Sent Game into OT

Earlier, Julius Randle had hit a near-miracle bucket from deep on the right sideline with Tobias Harris draped all over him to tie the game in regulation with seconds left — sending the game into Overtime.

Randle played like a leader all night; 24 pts (on 7-23), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 5 steals. That while playing against an INTENSE Philly defense all night. At the end of the game, Randle was cussing so much that some of the local media reporters tweeted that he shouldn’t.

3. Alec. Burks. Scoring Guard. Had to Play Point Too

Alec Burks played the point and provided much offense late in the game and in overtime for the Knicks. He can score with anyone; hits the 3 and has marvelous moves to the basket — he is a poor-man’s Kobe Bryant at times. He has been a terrific pickup by Knicks management — it would be interesting to know who in the NY front office pushed on getting him. Scott Perry?

Burks finished with 20 points on 8-17 shooting (2-3 from 3), 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and a +6 in 30 minutes.

Burks played the point late in the game and overtime, and did a decent job. Immanuel Quickley played well in this game (although 4-12, 2-6 from 3 isn’t quite efficient) but Thibodeau clearly had Burks in there at the end for his veteran leadership and Defense. He can handle the ball ‘well enough’. The Knicks clearly missed having their true points in this game — Elfrid Payton, Derrick Rose, and Austin Rivers all still out.

Frank Ntilikina played well enough in 18 minutes; but there were times when he was in there that the Knicks looked stagnant on offense, as commented by Walt Frazier. Ntilikina also made two mistakes on tepid passes for turnovers. He was 1-3 for 4 pts and a -2.

4. Barrett Big Baller

RJ Barrett played big-boy ball all evening; powering his way to the hoop and making difficult shots with 76’ers hanging all over him, trying to clamp the middle. He finished 9-17 for 19 pts, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, a +5 — mostly defended by Ben Simmons or Danny Green — two elite defenders, and Barrett himself played great D on the other end.

Watching Barrett vs Simmons — both big boys who can penetrate and score against any defense — is a fun game within a game to watch.

Barrett operated well in traffic all night against Philly, making big boy plays against Simmons, and Jeff Green, and anyone else Philly threw at him.

Barrett also his corner shooters Alec Burks and and Reggie Bullock with terrific passes after penetrations for open 3’s in overtime; he did everything.

5. HARD DEFENSE by Both Teams

This was a physical, HARD-fought, DEFENSIVE game — both teams play an excellent brand of Defensive basketball. All the more reason why coach Thibs and Knick fans were upset with the touch call late on Randle which decided the ballgame.

For Doc Rivers‘ Philly team, Danny Green was a defensive standout, hitting big 3’s a well. Ben Simmons plays great D, as does Matisse Thybulle — whom Ben Simmons says would be Defensive Player of the Year over him if he played more minutes. Philly was missing Joel Embiid but has Dwight Howard at center, still a good interior defender.

The Knicks play great D as well. Reggie Bullock, and Barrett, and Randle, and Noel. And Mitchell Robinson was back in this game for the Knicks — his first game after the month-long absence due to the hand injury. Robinson played 17 minutes off the bench and played pretty well, although was a tad rusty — he missed 3 put-backs that rolled in and out that are usually ‘money’ for him. Robinson also missed both of his free throws. He’s having a regression year in free throw shooting and must get better. Nerlens Noel got most of the minutes at center and played well.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401307439

 

 

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