The Knicks had guys named Alexey Shved, Lou Amundson, Langston Galloway and Travis Wear on the floor. The Spurs countered with future Hall of Famers like Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and the MVP of last year's NBA Finals, Kawhi Leonard. The Spurs have a brilliant coach, one of the best in any sport. The Knicks have a rookie puppet. The Knicks have the NBA's worst record, while the Spurs are the defending champs, playoff-bound and one of the hottest teams in the league.
The point of all this is Tuesday night's game between these two teams was not supposed to be close. It certainly wasn't supposed to go to overtime and even if it did, the Knicks were not supposed to win. How exactly they pulled off 104-100 overtime upset still remains unclear.
Finally, a No. 16 beat a No. 1! pic.twitter.com/LavUnnGJ6J
— SB Nation NBA (@SBNationNBA) March 18, 2015
Galloway played 47 minutes and scored 22 points. Shved, who has quickly become the Knicks' best (healthy) player (admittedly, not exactly the highest of praises) finished with 21 points and seven assists. He also got into the paint at will. And then there was Amundson, who might not have any actual basketball skills but plays hard and always seems to be around the action. He had 12 points and 17 rebounds.
But for the Knicks, the story was on the defensive side of the floor, where San Antonio was held to 38 percent shooting. The Spurs also hit just 3-of-14 shots from behind the three-point line. Tim Duncan missed a free-throw late in overtime and turned the ball over on an errant pass during San Antonio's penultimate offensive possession. The Knicks have the NBA's second worst defensive rating (108.5), so locking down the sharp-shooting Spurs is not an outcome any sensible person would have predicted.
Popovich: We didn’t respect the game, we didn’t respect the opponent. It was a pathetic performance.
— Dan McCarney (@danmccarneySAEN) March 18, 2015
San Antonio, who was led by Tony Parker's 21 points and six assists, fell to 41-25 with the loss. The Spurs are now in seventh place in the Western Conference, though they are tied in the loss column with the fifth place Mavericks.
On the other end of the spectrum are the Knicks who, in true Knicks fashion, managed to pull of a major upset that no Knicks fan actually wanted to see. The Knicks now stand at 14-53. Yeah, that's really bad. The thing is, it might not be bad enough. The Timberwolves, at 14-52, are just a half-game "ahead" of New York. And the Sixers, at 15-52, are right there as well. The Knicks play Minnesota on Thursday and Philadelphia on Friday in what might be the most important stretch of their season. So while a win against the defending champs was nice, Knicks fans would be happiest if that's the last pleasant surprise the team gives them this year.
3 other things we learned
The Pelicans are the eight seed. Not officially, of course, but after its 85-84 nail-biting win Tuesday at home over the Bucks, New Orleans is now in possession of the Western Conference's final playoff spot. With the victory the Pelicans improved to 37-30. That's the same record as the Thunder -- who were off Tuesday -- the difference being that New Orleans controls the tie-breaker between the two teams (you can read all about the Western Conference's tie-breakers here). Of course, New Orleans was lucky to hold on for the win after a defensive breakdown led to Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova catching the ball wide open behind the three-point line on the left wing with less than two seconds left in the game.
The Pelicans were lucky that he missed, and they didn't do themselves any favors by keeping the ball out of Anthony Davis' hands as frequently as they did. Davis had a game-high 20 points to along with 12 rebounds, despite often serving as a decoy. And yet, here we are in mid-March and New Orleans is still hanging around, despite a number of injuries.
The Grizzlies are not very good right now. Memphis, after losing 105-95 on Tuesday in Detroit, is now 10-9 in its last 19 games. That's not good. Mike Conley didn't play against the Pistons, which likely had something to do with Reggie Jackson exploding for 23 points and 20 assists, but it's not like the Grizzlies have been lights out recently when Conley's been in the lineup. Also, Greg Monroe was out for Detroit, making this all more embarrassing for Memphis. At one point the Grizzlies were up 17 in the second quarter and 13 in the third. This is not a game the they should have lost. At 47-21, they're still in second place in the West, and 1.5 games clear of third place Portland, but if Memphis keeps playing at this level, an early playoff exit is very possible.
Victor Oladipo is turning into a star. The Magic lost on Tuesday, 107-94, to the Rockets. But forget the team for a second and let's focus on an individual. Quietly (he is, after all, playing in Orlando) Victor Oladipo is turning into a stud. He had 29 points against Houston and helped hold James Harden to 17 on 4-of-14 shooting. On the season, Oladipo is averaging 17.6 points, 4.0 assists and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 45 percent from the field and 35 percent from deep. Solid, but not that exciting. However, in 10 games since the All-Star game, Oladipo's numbers have jumped to 22.4 points, 5.1 assists and he's been shooting an insane 47 percent on three-pointers. He's only 22 and is in just his second year in the league, but he's already breaking out. It's been a long season for the Magic, and there's a lot that can change for them this summer, but Oladipo's emergence might be the best thing that's happened to the franchise in a while.
Play of the Night
Blake Griffin just returned to the lineup on Sunday. It certainly hasn't taken he and Chris Paul long to get back on the same page.
3 fun things
The Rockets really take St. Patrick's Day seriously.
Pop spoke to the media after the Spurs' loss to the Knicks. He was not in a good mood.
Stan Van Gundy has no time for your silly stop-and-chats.
Scores
Pistons 105, Grizzlies 95 (Detroit Bad Boys recap | Grizzly Bear Blues recap)
Knicks 104, Spurs 100 (Posting and Toasting recap | Pounding the Rock recap)
Pelicans 85, Bucks 84 (The Bird Writes recap | Brew Hoop recap)
Rockets 107, Magic 94 (The Dream Shake recap | Orlando Pinstriped Post recap)
Clippers 99, Hornets 92 (Clips Nation Recap | At the Hive recap)