- Referees incorrectly ruled
Julius Randle traveled on a game-tying 3-point attempt against the Nets. - After the game, Randle was irate and had to be restrained by teammates from arguing with referees.
- The Knicks had nearly executed a perfect comeback against the Nets.
With 5.7 seconds remaining, trailing by three, the Knicks inbounded the ball with a chance to tie the game. Randle pulled up for the game-tying three-point attempt from right wing, but instead changed from a shot to a dribble in midair. The referees called a travel, giving possession back to the Nets with 3.2 seconds left, essentially ensuring the Nets victory.
Randle was irate, arguing that Nets guard Kyrie Irving had touched the ball on the way up, meaning Randle could have come back down without being called for a travel. The Knicks had already used their challenge, meaning the play couldn't be reviewed.
Here's the play:
A close replay appeared to show that Irving did touch the ball, proving Randle correct.
In between the game-sealing free throws from James Harden, Randle slammed the ball onto the ground.
When the final buzzer sounded, Randle hustled toward the refs to argue further. In between, he bumped the Nets' Jeff Green and had to be slowed down by several of his teammates. According to The New York Post's Marc Berman, Knicks executive William Wesley, who was courtside for the game, ran on the court to slow down Randle.
The missed call by the referees ended what was otherwise an epic comeback by the Knicks. New York trailed Brooklyn by as much as 12 in the fourth quarter. They had cut the lead to four, but couldn't quite close the gap. With 28 seconds left in the game, the Knicks trailed the Nets, 115-108, after two free throws from James Harden.
How the Knicks cut into the lead with some tenacious defense and quick scores. R.J. Barrett had a coast-to-coast dunk to cut it to five. The Knicks then forced the Nets to call back-to-back timeouts to advance the ball when they couldn't inbound the ball cleanly. On the ensuing inbounds, the Knicks wrapped up James Harden, forced a jump ball, won it, and got a dunk from Julius Randle to cut the lead to three.
On the next inbounds, the Knicks again wrapped up the Nets Joe Harris. The play was initially called a foul on the Knicks, but the Knicks challenged and won, forcing a jump ball, which they won again. They called timeout, leading to the final play with Randle and Irving.
After the game, Randle was too heated to go into detail about the final play.
"I was just frustrated," Randle said. "Obviously we fought so hard to come back and try to win the game, so I was just frustrated and that was pretty much it."
He added: "It's best I don't comment on the situation. There was a lot of frustration behind it for both sides. I'll let it be in the past and move on to the next game.''