Ow. In one of the more painful losses in recent memory, the Knicks comeback fell short against the Supersonics, 100-99. Stephon Marbury played his heart out for 47 minutes and 59.1 seconds, but missed the second of two free throws that would have sent the game into overtime. I brought my notepad with me for some game notes, but ended up abandoning that as I got into the game. If you must know my only note was something about how comfortable my Under Armour socks are. So, yeah. Since I didn't write anything down, I'll give you the best I've got in my head. It's not really gonna be game notes. It's more like Assorted Somewhat Silly Randomly Arranged Postgame Emotions. Long title. If only there were an acronym for that. Anyway, here you go:
- I mentioned that Steph played a superhuman 47:59.1. In truth, he played 46 minutes, but he was unbelievable. He got absolutely no help on offense, but completely took over. The Knicks as a team were miserable in the first half, but his hot shooting (he was 8-11 from downtown on the game) kept them in contention. Steph finished with 40 points on 13-22 shooting. The man needs a good hug.
- Quick, hazy recap of the end of the game (after the comeback, which was basically many trips to the line with some Marbury threes mixed in): A ridiculous Marbury three-point play puts the Knicks up by 1. The Knicks get a stop at the other end. Marbury misses a three, and the long rebound gets away from Curry. Rashard Lewis buries a transition three with 5 seconds left. The Knicks call time. The final play is Marbury cutting to the basket and getting fouled. Marbury calmly sinks the first. The second rims out. Game over.
- The Garden is the absolute best basketball arena on the entire planet. I fuckin love the place. We as an audience dserved a win so badly.
- I think I might dedicate a whole post to this in the next few days, but Mittens is pretty much a black hole without Lee and Crawford. JC is great at feeding the big guy and his jump shot has to be respected, while Lee makes similarly nifty passes, and is relatively competent around the rim. Without those two guys on the floor, opposing teams can easily double Curry. If by doubling, you're leaving Jared Jeffries and Malik Rose open, you can double your little heart out.
- Marbury's one missed free throw is what people are gonna remember about this game (I can't emphasize enough that aside from that one in-and-out miss, Steph was absolutely godly), but the Knicks as a team shot only 24 of 38 from the line. That just can't happen.
- Ray Allen was absolutely indefensible in the fourth quarter. He was making shots over double and triple teams, including several huge momentum-killers. The guy sitting next to me said it best: "That's just not fair."
- The Sonics as a team, really, kept up their pace in the second half. It was a different kind of comeback for the Knicks. It's hard to describe, but it just didn't really seem like a flurry of energy to get back in it, followed by emptiness. It felt like they chipped away at the lead, and were legimately in it at the end.
- No Lee, no Nate.
- The Nets lost.
- Last, but certainly not least, big ups to you guys for loading up the comments section. Thanks to Zack for taking the initiative to start the game thread banter. Thanks to Barnesgasm for telling me of the Q-Tip interview and Kenny Smith blunder I missed, as well as comparing Luke Ridnour to a " limbless, yet quadraplegic, midget orphan". Thanks to Bonafied for, well, the Nets loss. SPerez, welcome to the comment section, and Willy, good
look luck on your paper. I think that's everybody. I really appreciate your comments, guys. They make this blog worthwhile for me. Keep it up.
I don't even know what else to say right now. I'm tired. We'll talk again tomorrow. Peace.
