Having failed to a) incite a riot; b) get the fourth quarter of Game 3 re-played; c) maintain their dignity; or d) seize a wondrous opportunity to steal a victory by making some free throws, the Knicks tonight are down to spending their last two-and-a-half hours of the season sticking with the same basics that, basically, have failed them.
“It’s not really tough,” said Penny Hardaway about being cast as a speck of dust in the way of a broom. “It’s just a question of executing the game plan.
“We don’t want to be swept. That’s where the pride comes in, not only as a basketball player but as a man. You don’t want them celebrating on our home court.
“We understand no [NBA] team has ever [come back from 3-0]. But it has to happen somewhere, why not here?”
Actually, there are lots of reasons why not here, starting with one team being so much better than the other it isn’t even funny, or certainly not as funny as Tim Thomas still saying he wants a piece of Kenyon Martin. It is extremely hard to take the Knicks’ chances tonight seriously, even if they did take Game 3 to the end, because actually it was the Nets taking it to the end by missing 12 straight shots over 10 minutes.
The Knicks only shot 30 per cent in the fourth quarter to crawl back from what had been a 14-point deficit. It was almost like they couldn’t believe they still had a chance, the shock showing up in hurried shots and Stephon Marbury, their only real shot, getting double-teamed outside the three-point line on the last possession rather than in catch-and-shoot position behind a screen.
“Trying so hard to come back, there’s so much pressure to make every shot because you know if you don’t that team is so good it can go on another run,” said Hardaway. “That’s where you get into trouble. You have to take your time, get good looks and knock them down.”
The Knicks, without their best option to knock them down, Allan Houston, are on the canvas at the count of nine. They have no good option but to tell themselves they protected the ball much better in Game 4, got New Jersey into the half-court the entire fourth quarter, and that they would be up 3-0 if they had Allan Houston and Tim Thomas.
Right.
“We don’t have them,” said Lenny Wilkens. “You know, I know it, let’s move on, focus on the guys we have try to get them up to the level where they give us an opportunity to win.
“We were there the other night. We got back, we matched up, and we made good switches. We did all the things we were supposed to do. We gotta continue what we’re doing and we have to get off to a quicker start.”
A quicker start will still leave the Knicks exposed throughout the game to a much quicker team that, in this series, has fired on all cylinders only in the second half of Game One. With Marbury a sitting duck for double teams, unlikely to be able to go off for even the one breakout game, it’s hard to imagine the Knicks cranking it up any higher than they did Thursday. And not as hard to see the Nets gleefully executing a final humiliation.
Of course, that’s why they play the games. But rarely in the playoffs is there a case where you so wonder: Why?
