After all the positioning and trades and lobbying and massive contracts, the New York Knicks had a chance to even their first-round playoff series with Boston and get their first playoff win in 10 years. On the potential game-winning possession, Carmelo Anthony passed out of a double team inside to … Jared Jeffries?
With all due respect to Jeffries — who had a season-high 10 points in the game — watching him lose the ball was symbolic of a landscape in which NBA owners need to retool the labor agreement to protect themselves from themselves. Two injuries and the last guy dressed on the roster has the ball at the end of a postseason game. Don’t be surprised if Jamaal Magloire is in the same situation if Miami starts losing bodies.
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Anthony redeemed himself with 42 points after a shocking performance in Game 1, and his delivery to Jeffries at the end of Game 2 was undeniably the correct basketball play. Who else did he have as an option? Rookie of the year candidate turned deer-in-headlights Landry Fields was on the bench.
Free agency and the Denver Nuggets aren’t the only ones to blame for the outcome. So is the Knicks’ front office. As ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons tweeted afterward “Bill Walker: 33 mins, 0-for-11 FG … still waiting for someone to explain why the Knicks didn’t need Corey Brewer.”
That the Celtics weren’t able to pull away against Anthony and the nameless role players was plenty frightening for Doc Rivers but not as scary as trying to figure out how the Knicks get back into contention without a healthy Amar’e Stoudemire and Chauncey Billups.
