Spike back, but Knicks fall to Sixers in OT
SIXERS 101 KNICKS 100
The Knicks left another close defeat frustrated and fuming at the referees.
Julius Randle was whistled for a push-off on a rebound attempt with 5.3 seconds left in overtime, sending Tobias Harris to the line for the winning foul shots in Philadelphia’s 101-100 victory Sunday at MSG. Randle took one question postgame and let loose.
“After all the fouling and everything that was going on, for them to call that and decide the game is f---ing ridiculous,” Randle said. “They have to do a better job. It’s too many games like this.”
The Knicks, leading by one, had pulled down the rebound from Shake Milton’s miss, but Randle was caught pushing Harris away from the ball. Replays showed the clear shove, but coach Tom Thibodeau had two gripes: first that the call was made, and then that he wasn’t granted a challenge by the officials.
“Usually at the end of the game, there’s going to be, as they would say, marginal contact, incidental contact, every other kind of contact,” Thibodeau said. “All I know is that we were getting hit a lot and there wasn’t marginal contact on that.”
Thibodeau also made reference to the oddity of a game with only two referees. The third, Dannica Mosher, was unavailable due to COVID protocols.
“Blown call by the officials,” Randle said. “Not enough contact for them to call the play.”
Official Courtney Kirkland, through a pool reporter, explained that Randle committed a loose ball foul and Thibodeau didn’t signal for a challenge in the allotted time.
Either way, Thibodeau would’ve lost a challenge. It was a foul. The only question is whether the referees should make such a consequential call on contact away from the ball.
This is the second game in a week in which Randle, in particular, took issue with the officiating at the end of a defeat. He also stormed at the officials in Brooklyn on Monday after he was whistled for a travel in the final seconds.
Despite his protests, Randle, on Sunday, had a chance to win the game after Harris’ free throws, but his jumper in transition bounced off the rim, completing Philadelphia’s three-game season sweep.
It was a complete reversal from regulation, when Randle’s push off on Harris wasn’t called and he nailed a tying 3-pointer. Randle’s shot had no business going in; it required a bounce off the rim that defied physics. But it dropped. And the Knicks played their first OT game of the season.
The Sixers (30-13) should’ve buried the Knicks, but Harris missed two foul shots before Randle’s game-tying 3-pointer in regulation. Just one free throw would’ve probably ended the game.
But Harris bailed himself out in OT. The Knicks (21-22) have defeated just one team currently over .500 (the Hawks) since Feb. 6.
Sunday was a defensive battle as only RJ Barrett (19 points) and Nerlens Noel (13) shot above 50% for the Knicks. Randle dropped a game-high 24 points but required 23 shots. Shake Milton scored 21 points for the Sixers, who were again playing without their injured MVP candidate Joel Embiid.
Mitchell Robinson played 17 minutes off the bench in his return from a 15-game absence due to a broken hand. His performance was decent, and the hand clearly wasn’t a problem when Robinson emphatically dunked a putback in the second quarter. He finished with four points and six rebounds on 2-of5 shooting.
With Derrick Rose (health and safety protocols) and Elfrid Payton (strained hamstring) out, Immanuel Quickley started at point guard and the Knicks struggled off the opening tip. Knicks superfan Spike Lee returned to the Garden as a fan for the first time since his incident with arena security and public lambasting of owner James Dolan. Lee sat courtside in his usual area along the West sideline, but the seats have been moved farther from the court and spaced to accommodate COVID-related restrictions.