Mavericks 101
Knicks 90
Look at the bright side: The Knicks went toe-to-toe with the league’s best team for three quarters, they entered the season’s midpoint with a better record than last season, the eighth-seeded Wizards lost and Kurt Thomas didn’t kill a referee.
Still, the Knicks know last night’s game was huge opportunity wasted – to fight so hard for so long and then go down so meekly in the final quarter in their 101-90 loss to the Mavericks. The club entered the fourth quarter tied at 74-74. Latrell Sprewell and Mavs coach Don Nelson exchanged low-fives as the fourth quarter began. The battle was on.
That’s when the Mavericks (34-8) showed their greatness. And Don Chaney’s club turned into one big tease as the Mavericks pounded them into submission in breaking their three-game winning streak.
Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas with 30 points.
“It was a great chance to steal one; we should win at home,” Latrell Sprewell lamented. “It’s just a missed opportunity.”
Dallas outscored the Knicks 27-16 in the last 12 minutes, raining 16 points on them in the opening 4:30. And the Knicks were sloppy, committing four turnovers.
“We were there,” said Sprewell, who scored a team-high 21 points. “That’s the only positive thing. We could’ve been better defensively in the fourth and found a way to win. I don’t know how many points they scored in the fourth, but it was way too many. I don’t think we had 100-percent effort in the fourth. Other than the fourth, we played hard. But I’m disappointed in the way we finished the game.”
And so the Knicks stumbled into the halfway mark at 17-24 – one game better than their 41-game mark (16-25) of last season.
“They’re a great team,” Allan Houston said of the Mavs. “They spread us out on defense. You can’t give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. It bothers you because you do everything you can. They capitalize on every little mistake you make. That’s why have the record they do.”
The collapse began when the Mavericks converted a four-point play with 10:56 left. Michael Finley (20 points) drained a 3-pointer from the deep left corner and Thomas was called for a loose-ball foul as he fought through a Shawn Bradley pick to try to get at Finley. Bradley made the free throw and the Mavs went ahead 80-74 with 10:56 left.
Thomas, who scored 17 points in 24 foul-plagued minutes, was removed and didn’t like it. “I felt he could have left me in the game,” Thomas said. “That’s the frustrating thing.”
Thomas frustrations boiled over when he was put back in and committed his fifth foul with 4:56 left, barreling through a pick. He went wild, lunging maniacally at referee Jim Clark, but was bear-hugged by Othella Harrington.
“I’m used to it,” Thomas said. “It’s been happening all year. I’m starting to look forward to it. It’s been fun.”
The final dagger came with the Knicks down six and 4:50 left: Charlie Ward missed an open 3-pointer, Clarence Weatherspoon blew the putback dunk and Finley, in transition, banged in a 3-pointer from the right corner. “That was pretty much the game at that point,” Sprewell said. “We get that shot to go down, we’re sitting there with an opportunity to win.”
With the Wizards losing in Chicago, the Knicks can say they’re in striking distance of the eighth seed – three games behind, two in the loss column. But last night was a chance finally to be regarded as contenders instead of the pretenders they seem to be following that fourth quarter from hell.