Knicks Fall Just Short in Portland OT Thriller
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The Knicks played some inspired basketball on Friday night in Portland but still left the Rose Garden with a disappointing 94-88 overtime loss to the Trail Blazers. Behind All-Star Brandon Roy, big man LaMarcus Aldridge and point guard Steve Blake, the Blazers were able to scrape out a win over the shorthanded Knicks.
New York was undermanned, as starters Eddy Curry and Quentin Richardson were both inactive due to the flu. Still, despite playing in the fourth game of a five game West Coast trip, the Knicks came out with the most energy and exhibited incredible grit and heart in the post by outrebounding the Blazers by 14, including a remarkable 17 on the offensive glass.
Even though the Knicks showed heart, in the end this Portland team would not be denied on itshome court. The young Blazers are notably poised, and they are now 4-1 in overtime after overcoming a 15-point third-quarter lead and an eight-point fourth quarter deficit to defeat New York.
The Blazers rode Roy and Jarrett Jack to victory in overtime, after a Travis Outlaw jumper with five seconds left had tied the game. Roy and Jack both put in a shot and drained two free throws apiece in the game’s final 45 seconds to give Portland the win.
Roy did not just shine in the waning moments however, as the young star picked up his first triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against two turnovers. He overcame a quiet first half, in which he scored only five points, to turn it on in the second half and overtime to impress in his first game at home since being announced as an All-Star.
Aldridge also played well tonight and in fact dominated in the game's opening moments. But the energy and hustle of the Knicks inside helped slow him down a bit, making his 17-point, eight-rebound and three assist night all the more impressive.
It was Blake, though, who saved the team. When the Blazers went cold from the floor in the second half tonight, Blake put aside his traditional spit-up game and put the ball on the floor, resulting in 19 big points for the Portland guard.
The game was an unusual one, as the shot clocks were not working in the arena, and play was stopped several times to find a solution. Ultimately, portable shot clocks were placed on the floor, but New York was clearly affected by the change, several times looking up for the clock in possessions that resulted in shot-clock violations.
“I thought with the shot clock being in the position it was in, a couple of times I don’t think we recognized where the clock was and I thought their instincts were looking up trying to find out how much time was left on the clock,” Knicks President, Basketball Operations, and Head Coach, Isiah Thomas, said of his team. “I thought those violations, a couple of times, guys just couldn’t find the shot clock … your instincts take over."
Zach Randolph agreed.
“That shot clock was a problem … a couple of times I didn’t know the shot clock went off,” Randolph said.
Though the clock was a problem, it was the result of the game that most upset Randolph.
“I would have liked to win this game tonight,” he said, referring to the fact that tonight’s was his first game against the Blazers since they had traded him to the Knicks over the summer. “I would like to win all of them, but this game especially.”
Though the team lost, Randolph certainly showed the Portland fans what they gave up, as he used long jumpers and quick moves inside to put in 25 points and grab 14 boards in 48 minutes.
Nate Robinson and David Lee, forced into starting duty by the short roster, also impressed. Robinson put in 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished six assists in the game, as he took advantage of his first start to put together an impressive line.
| THE TURNING POINT
After Randolph hit a 21-foot jumper with 9:10 remaining in the third quarter, the Knicks were up by 15, 57-42, and feeling confident. Portland rode a 19-4 run to tie the game, however, getting the Blazers back in the mix and in a position to win in overtime. It started with a Joel Pryzbilla dunk, then a Blake jumper followed by another, this time for three, and Portland was within eight. Jamal Crawford then hit two jumpers, trading points with Roy and Aldridge who hit jumpers of their own. Then Martell Webster hit a three-pointer and Roy followed that with a shot from downtown of his own. From there, it was the young All-Star guard again, this time with a dunk, as Roy helped bring his team back to a 61-61 tie. With that run, the Knicks lost the cushion they needed to pull out a close win on the road. |
Balkman played his best game of the season, knocking in 11 points on 50 percent shooting, 10 boards (seven of them on the offensive end), two steals and two blocks in 32 minutes.
In the end, though, this team was too short-handed and too tired to win. No player proved that more than Jamal Crawford, who averages more minutes per game than any other player in the league except for Allen Iverson for the Nuggets. Crawford played 51 minutes tonight, and was tired in the end, going 0-10 in the fourth quarter and overtime, including a shot to win the game in regulation.
Crawford scores among the most fourth-quarter points in the league, but tonight was not his night, as the injury to Stephon Marbury, the flu, and Crawford’s value to the team have conspired to keep him on the floor for major minutes lately.
“We didn’t make shots and we didn’t do a good job of executing down the stretch,” Thomas said. “We played a good basketball game, but when you shoot 39 percent on the road … we had 11 turnovers and we out-rebounded them, but you have to make shots,” Thomas said.
Randolph agreed, noting that the team had fought hard to the very end.
“Their guys hit big shots. We fought the whole game and towards the end they hit big shots, and in overtime they hit big shots and we couldn’t hit a shot,” the returning star explained.
