Knicks' protest over OT loss to Rockets might be another defeat
With the game tied and under one second left on the clock, Knicks guard Jalen Brunson reacts as he is called for a foul by referee Jacyn Goble, right, when Rockets guard Aaron Holiday was attempting a 3-point shot, setting up the winning free throws for Houston, during the second half of an NBA game Monday in Houston. Credit: AP/Michael Wyke
ORLANDO, Fla. — The Knicks offered little clarity on the protest they filed, but multiple league sources indicated that the decision to protest the last-second loss in Houston Monday was more of a symbolic gesture than a real belief that the fight would be successful.
The goal would be for the game to resume at the end of regulation after a last-second foul gave the Rockets the 105-103 win — a call that crew chief Ed Malloy admitted afterward was incorrect. But the human error calls have never resulted in a protest being won and would open the floodgates for every last two-minute report to result in a replay.
“It is what it is,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “No one is perfect. People make mistakes. I have great respect for him and the whole crew. It didn’t go our way. You just do the things you can do. Every game is important to us. So I respect what our organization is doing as well. I think it’s the right thing to do. Let the league decide.”
“Hopefully, it works,” Jalen Brunson said. “Hopefully. Not much else we can do. Keep it to themselves. Nothing we can do about it.”
Was there at least some satisfaction from the admission?
“Satisfaction? Hell no, we lost,” Josh Hart said. “Now it’s in the loss column. Doesn’t matter if it’s after the fact. So obviously I wish we were able to change it in real time. Obviously, we weren’t able to. Hopefully the league gets it right.”
The other part of it is the Knicks have completed their only trip to Houston and even if somehow they won it would mean heading back to play an overtime session.
“Don’t like our odds?” Thibodeau said with a smile. “Whatever they say we have to do we got to be ready to do. That’s the challenge of our league. Sometimes it’s back-to-back, four in six (nights), early game, late game, noon. Whatever it is. I think the teams that adapt to the right mentality to face those challenges do a great job knowing, OK, we got to be ready to go. So whatever time they tells us to be ready to go, we’ll be ready to go. “
n Next man up again
Donte DiVincenzo stepped into the starting lineup earlier this season, and with a hamstring injury forcing him to the sideline Wednesday the Knicks lost a player who has kept them afloat without Julius Randle and OG Anunoby. “I think it’s his best of stretch of basketball,” Thibodeau said. “That’s what I like about our team. When Mitch [Robinson] went out, everyone was concerned, and rightfully so. But we didn’t know. Isaiah [Hartenstein] went in and played really well. And every time we’ve had someone go out, we’ve had somebody step in. One guy goes out and it’s an opportunity for someone else to get in there and grow. Donte has played at a really high level. And we needed it. We’re down quite a few guys and we still got to scratch out wins.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
