This broken-play game-winner was the ending Knicks-Lakers deserved
The New York Knicks’ Sunday visit to Staples Center to take on the Los Angeles Lakers in Kobe Bryant’s final meeting with the team against whom he scored his first NBA points 20 years ago was, well, kind of a dud of a game between two bad teams in the early stages of what figure to be long-term rebuilding projects.
It was also, however, a game that featured a furious and unlikely comeback led by a delightful combination of misfit toys — as was the case in last Sunday’s stunning upset of the Golden State Warriors, it was L.A.’s second unit, led by 32-year-old rookie point guard Marcelo Huertas, veteran big man Brandon Bass, rookie high-flyer Larry Nance Jr. and southpaw playmaker Lou Williams, that turned a 16-point third-quarter deficit into a five-point lead with 3:16 left in regulation — and some as-advertised final-minutes mano a mano shot-making by Bryant and Knicks star Carmelo Anthony.
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It was, then, a pretty trashy game with a surprisingly exciting finish … and, really, it’s hard to imagine that kind of contest ending on a more appropriate play than this:
After Bryant attacked Aaron Afflalo for a too-early baseline jumper that went halfway down but bounced out, the Knicks were able to grab the rebound and call timeout with the score tied at 87 and 9.3 seconds remaining. Given the opportunity to advance the ball and set up a play for the win, the Knicks wound up coming within a hair’s breadth of a five-second inbounding violation, a backcourt violation, a double-dribble and a travel, before Jose Calderon grabbed the ball from Robin Lopez 45 feet away from the basket, dribbled hard to his right, watched as Huertas totally overplayed his right hand heading toward the sideline, then pulled up and drained a wide-open 3-pointer to put the Knicks up 90-87.
With only two-tenths of a second remaining, all L.A. could do was try to tip an inbounds pass toward the hoop from beyond the 3-point line. That, as you might expect, didn’t work out, and the Knicks left Staples with the win.
It was about as ugly a game-winner as you’re ever going to see. The look on Calderon’s face after hitting the triple said it all:
Jose Calderon was extremely happy after hitting the game-winner (photo: Alex Gallardo/AP) https://t.co/RTYUGXHghl pic.twitter.com/DtgxTMURKc
— SI NBA (@si_nba) March 14, 2016
Jose Calderon looked ashamed to make that shot.
— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) March 14, 2016
Asked after the game why he stayed stone-faced following his final-second heroics, Calderon “smirked and said, ‘I’ll keep that one to myself,'” according to Andrew Keh of the New York Times. Truly, a mystery for the ages.
Shocking though it may seem, that apparently wasn’t how Knicks interim head coach Kurt Rambis drew it up, according to Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver:
“We thought [Anthony] had an advantage,” Knicks coach Kurt Rambis said. “We tried to get the ball into his hands but they did a good job of guarding that. The guys read it and reacted. … [Robin Lopez] did a good job of getting the ball to Jose and Jose created a nice shot for himself. I’m not going to take credit for that in any way, shape or form. It’s just somebody reading and reacting in a difficult situation.” […]
“As soon as they lined up,” Bryant recalled, “I [told Anthony], ‘You’re not going to touch the ball. I’ve hit like 10 game-winners in this particular lineup. I know where you’re going. You don’t have a chance. Somebody else is going to have to make it.’ … He wasn’t getting the damn ball.”
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With Anthony doubled, the Knicks had absolutely no idea what to do next … until, of course, they did. From Al Iannazzone of Newsday:
“There weren’t too many options out there,” [Calderon] said. “I felt open for a minute — shoot it.
“I’m really happy for it. We got the win. It was perfect.”
Well, “perfect” might be a bit of a stretch, even for the victors.
Knicks president Phil Jackson: “Basketball went back a few years with that one, huh?” He joked that Knicks-Lakers “was tough to watch.”
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) March 14, 2016
As if a meeting between the March 2016 versions of the Knicks and Lakers could do anything but.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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