Shooter’s Touch: Mavs Edge Knicks on Nowitzki’s Lucky Buzzer-Beater

NEW YORK – With more than seven weeks still left in the NBA regular season, the New York Knicks have already lost far more than they ever expected to this season. But Monday night’s 110-108 loss to the Dallas Mavericks was their most disheartening defeat yet.

New York (21-36) rallied from a 14-point, second-quarter deficit to lead at the start of the fourth-quarter, and then scored eight straight points, in 46.7 seconds, to tie Dallas (35-23) at 108-apeice, only to lose when forward Dirk Nowitzki’s lucky jumper from just inside the top of the key glanced off of the backboard, bounced off of the rim, straight up and then through the hoop as time expired at Madison Square Garden.

Not only is the Knicks’ mark of 15 games below .500 a season-high, but New York, with 10 home games still remaining, already clinched a worse mark at MSG this year than its road record (23-18) last season. That comes long after the Knicks (12-19 at the Garden) lost any chance to match their 31-10 home record a year ago.

Wasted during New York’s third straight loss, and sixth in seven games, was a 44-point effort from forward Carmelo Anthony, whose 7-of-12 shooting from 3-point range was equaled by 37-year-old forward Vince Carter, who was one of three Mavericks to reach 20 points while leading Dallas with a season-high 23 points. The Mavericks’ scoring from their starting backcourt of Monta Ellis (22 points) and Jose Calderon (20 points) overwhelmed that of the Knicks, which produced only eight points each from guards Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni.    

Conversely, Anthony was essentially a one-man show, as the three other Knicks to score in double figures -- reserve guard J.R. Smith (15 points), center Tyson Chandler (12 points, 12 rebounds) and reserve guard Tim Hardaway, Jr. (10 points) -- complemented New York’s franchise player with only limited scoring help.

“This was a tough one,” Anthony admitted.

While winning its third straight game, Dallas built five-point leads three times in the opening quarter, the last time, 20-15, on a Calderon 3-pointer, before pushing that advantage to 31-19 on a Carter trey.

A 7-3 spurt to start the second period extended the Mavericks’ edge to a game-high 38-24, but primarily with the energy and defense of center Cole Aldrich (two points, three rebounds), who only played the final 8:21 of the first half (in place of Chandler), the Knicks stormed back with a 35-19 run to take their first lead (59-57) since they were up, 7-6.

Anthony capped the stretch with a pull-up jumper, but 11.3 seconds later, Ellis drilled a 3-pointer to beat the first-half buzzer, sending Dallas to the locker room, up 60-59.

An Anthony trey midway through the third quarter kept New York within 72-71, but two more 3s  by Carter keyed a 12-5 run that gave the Mavericks an 84-76 lead in the final minute of the period.

However, Anthony again brought the Knicks back, scoring the last six points (on three free throws and a 3-pointer) of the quarter over the period’s final 32.5 seconds, to trimmed Dallas’ lead to 84-82.

Smith gave New York its last lead, 85-84, on a 3-pointer 16 seconds into the fourth quarter, but consecutive 3s from Carter put the Mavericks back up, 90-85.

Prigioni 3-pointers twice (at 92-90 and 96-93) cut the gap to a one-possession game, but Dallas stayed up by at least four points until Anthony sliced the lead in half, to 103-100 on a trey with 2:43 left, following five Knick offensive rebounds on the same trip.

Calderon answered with a 3-pointer 48 seconds later, to double the margin to 106-100, and a layup by reserve forward Brandan Wright (12 points on 6-of-8 shooting) increased the lead to 108-100, with 1:37 remaining.

But just 10 seconds later, Felton scored on a layup, and after an Ellis turnover, Felton lobbed to Chandler who scored on a layup and completed a 3-point play with a free throw, to bring New York to within 108-105, with 1:12 to go.

Chandler then stole the ball from Ellis and passed to Felton, who Anthony up for a game-tying 3 with 50.3 seconds left, and after a missed 3-pointer by Carter, the Knicks had a chance to take the lead. But Carter forced Anthony to abandon his plans to take a jumper from the right wing and instead pass to Smith on the left wing as the shot clock was winding down.

“He lost the handle on the ball and got jammed, and couldn’t get his shot,” head coach Mike Woodson said of the play. “J.R. tried to get it off. I thought he was bumped, but we didn’t get the call.”

All Smith could do at that point was force a contested 22-footer that fell short as the shot clock expired, with 10.6 left on the game clock. On his follow-through, Smith was hit on the hand by Ellis, but nothing was called.

That set the stage for Nowitzki (15 points) who hit the game-winner over Anthony.

“I waited a little too long and by the time I looked up there was not enough time,” Nowitzki said. “It was definitely an ugly shot, but I am glad it went in.”

On trying to guard the shot, Anthony said, “I felt like I couldn’t do anything better. He hit a tough shot.”

He also admitted, “It’s like a needle popping a balloon. It sucks all the air out of you.”

It was the second time in three games that Anthony, the league’s reigning scoring champion and the NBA’s second-leading scorer this year, posted a 44-point game during a Knicks loss.

“You score 40, 44 and still lose,” a frustrated Anthony said at his locker. “You ask yourself, ‘Is it worth it?’ But I’ll keep doing what I do.”

Sitting 10½ games out of the Atlantic Division lead and six games off the pace for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, Woodson sounded as if he is starting to feel how the several close games his team has let get away this year could lead to his termination as New York’s coach by the season’s end, if not sooner.

“We have had quite a few games this year where we couldn’t get over the stretch,” Woodson said. “Guys are… not quitting. They are putting forth the effort, but unfortunately, things are not bouncing our way.”

Trying to take a more positive approach, Chandler takes it upon himself to keep his teammates’ head up.

“I keep encouraging them and not let them cave in,” he said. “If it means grabbing a guy’s jersey, looking them in the eye, and saying, ‘You can have it a lot worse. You’re playing the game you love.’ I won’t let them quit.”

Even that may not be enough at his point, though, for a team that continues it’s disappointing a tailspin, to the point where earlier in the day, it bought out the contracts of two players the Knicks thought were two key acquisitions over the summer (the signings of forward Metta World Peace and point guard Beno Udrih).

Four of New York’s next five games are on the road, beginning with a trip to defending NBA champion Miami, on Thursday night, before the Knicks fly back north to host Golden State the next night.