Weekend at Jimmy's

(or What Transpired w/ Lil Dolan’s Knicks this weekend)

Friday Night: Knicks vs. Spurs, Loss (93-99)
Unless you watched this game, which you probably didn’t because it was Friday night and you have a life, then you won’t likely believe this, but THE KNICKS OUTPLAYED THE SPURS. The Knicks were crisper, they were smarter, they were playing harder and they were just all-around better. Except when it mattered the most. Except in the last 2 seconds and the overtime period. Other than that, the Knicks were the better team. First, they built up a big lead by pushing the ball and helping on defense, going ahead by 18 in the third quarter. But, more importantly, the repelled the comeback bid by the Spurs early in the fourth. San Antonio took the lead and, though they previously would have wilted, the Knicks took it right back with Lee and Crawford starring. They seemingly had learned how to take a punch and led by 3 with 7 seconds to play. As the clock was about to hit zero Ginobli found an inexplicably wide-open Michael Finley in the corner. Of course, he drained the three and the Knicks were beaten before overtime even began.
This could have been the most deflating loss of the season. Only because it got your hopes so high before dashing them. I went directly up to my computer afterwards to try to put it into words but I couldn’t even figure out where to start. With the offensive execution down the stretch? With Balkman’s defensive lapse in the final seconds? With the way these guys are so snakebit? All I could do was take some pain medication and watch a western. Percosset and 3:10 to Yuma. Yes and yes. I tried again on Saturday morning to write something entertaining or enlightening about the game but was still at a loss. Just like the team.

Saturday Night: Knicks vs. Bucks (Win, 99-98)
I was dreading this game. I was thinking it would the away-loss to pair with last week’s home-loss to Clippers. In other words, the game against a lackluster opponent that we give away after a gut-wrenching loss to a quality opponent(s) that we should have beat. Everything looked on-book with the Knicks trailing big in the third. Even after the Knicks came back to tie late in the fourth the loss still seemed in the offing as the Bucks had the ball with about 7 seconds to go. Yet, they didn’t hit the winner in the waning moments. Shockingly. That gives us two wins over Milwaukee by a combined 4 points. So, no matter what happens the rest of the way, we can at least rest easy knowing that we seem to have this Milwaukee Bucks issue handled.