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 Locked in a tie game with the Houston Rockets on Friday night at
Toyota Center, Knicks reserve guard J.R. Smith inexplicably hoisted
an uncontested 3-pointer despite New York having the opportunity to
hold for the final shot, a critical blunder in the Rockets' 102-100
victory.
Rockets guard James Harden scored 37 points, 27 in the second half,
but Houston benefited from the decision made by Smith, who was
1-for-7 from behind the arc before shooting with 19.9 seconds left.
Rockets guard Aaron Brooks grabbed the rebound, was fouled by Knicks
guard Beno Udrih, and hit two free throws to cap the Houston
victory.
"Honestly I thought we were down two," Smith said. "When I shot the
ball I started hearing (center) Tyson (Chandler) say, 'No, no don't
take the shot.' By that time it was already released. Good shot, bad
timing.
"It was just bad basketball IQ by me."
The Rockets (22-13) led 100-95 when Harden drilled a step-back
20-footer with 2:25 left, but the Knicks (10-22) had forged a
deadlock by the time Chandler corralled an offensive rebound off an
errant Udrih 3-pointer. Smith followed with his miss, repeating a
similar mistake made by Knicks forward/center Andrea Bargnani, who
on Dec. 18 against the Milwaukee Bucks took a 3 with the Knicks
leading and in possession after Chandler snagged an offensive
rebound with 15.7 seconds to play.
Guard Iman Shumpert and Udrih misfired on the Knicks' final
possession, with Udrih coming up short on his runner in the lane as
the buzzer sounded.
"If we're down in that situation, I'll probably shoot it. Obviously
you have to shoot it," Harden said of the late-game fiasco. "Tie
game on the road, I would probably hold for the last shot."
Shumpert finished with 26 points on 6-for-6 shooting from behind the
arc while forward Carmelo Anthony added 25 points and eight boards.
Rockets forward Chandler Parsons had a double-double of 17 points
and 11 rebounds. Guard Jeremy Lin scored 14 points in the first half
yet logged just eight minutes after intermission — zero in the
fourth quarter.
"That was crazy," Parsons said of the closing stretch. "It was one
of those games where it wasn't pretty again."
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The opening three quarters were defined by alternating spurts
and white-knuckle play, with neither team owning a double-digit
lead. The Knicks used two dunks and two 3s to surge ahead in the
first quarter, only to see the Rockets open the second quarter
with a 9-3 run.
Momentum was difficult for both teams to wrangle, at least for
an extended stretch. Lin was aggressive early, converting a
driving layup and three-point play that keyed an 8-0 Rockets
push. The Knicks replied with three consecutive 3-pointers from
Anthony, Shumpert and Anthony again, and pushed back ahead at
43-41 on a Shumpert jumper.
Houston managed just two free throws in the first quarter, but
made eight trips to the line in the second. Two Parsons' free
throws with 4.3 seconds left gave Houston a 48-47 halftime lead,
but the Knicks shot the lights out in the third to reclaim their
edge.
Anthony and Shumpert combined to score 24 points in the period
on 9-of-15 shooting as New York shot 59.1 percent during the
quarter. The Knicks' smart passing and spacing yielded the open
looks that Anthony and Shumpert routinely converted, the
foundation for a 34-point frame.
"I've just been in the gym working," said Shumpert, who had a
career-high 27 points Thursday night in San Antonio. "I was in
the gym working and they weren't falling last month, but now the
work's paying off."
NOTES: Rockets C Dwight Howard suffered through one of his worst
offensive games on Nov. 14 at New York, scoring seven points on
1-of-5 shooting from the field against Knicks F/C Andrea
Bargnani, a player not exactly renowned for defensive might.
With C Tyson Chandler back anchoring the middle, the Knicks
wanted Chandler to mimic Bargnani, an odd request to be sure.
"He had an opportunity to watch some film and see how Bargnani
played him, and I thought Bargnani played him great," Knicks
coach Mike Woodson said. "Tyson has got to do the same thing."
... The Rockets welcomed back F/C Greg Smith, who missed six
games with a sprained right knee. "In the last three-and-a-half,
four months, Greg has had very few days on the floor," Rockets
coach Kevin McHale said. "He can give us running and rebounding
and rolling and just another big body that we can go in there
(to), which we need without Omer (Asik)."
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