NBCSN
Good morning! Here are the plays everybody will be talking about on Thursday:
The Charles Oakley fight. The Knicks game on Wednesday was momentarily delayed when Oakley, the Knicks legend, got into an altercation with security near the court. Oakley, who is reportedly estranged from the team due to his criticisms, was said to be yelling owner James Dolan who was sitting nearby. Oakley was eventually removed from the arena and arrested (read more here).
The Zach Parise offside goal. In a battle of two of the top teams in the Western Conference, the Minnesota Wild beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in overtime. But it might not have even reached overtime if not for a controversial goal by Parise in the second period. Chicago challenged the goal, arguing that Parise was offsides before receiving the pass that set up the goal. The review lasted more than eight minutes and multiple angles appeared to show that Parise had not cleared the zone before the puck hit the stick of Charlie Coyle. Yet officials ruled the replay was inconclusive and the goal stood.
The Jabari Parker knee injury. Parker's knee collapsed without contact on a drive to the basket. The extent of the injury is not known, but he had to be helped off the court, and Parker has injured the same knee before. The former No. 2 overall pick in the draft missed parts of his first two seasons in the NBA after tearing a ligament in his knee mid-way through his rookie year. Now in his third NBA season, Parker was starting to mature into a top player, as he was averaging 20.1 points per game this season.
The Willie Cauley-Stein dunk bonus. The Kings beat the Celtics 108-92. Cauley-Stein finished with 14 points, because he only got two points for this dunk. He deserved more.