The First Worst is obviously Andrea Bargnani’s bizarre crunch time shot that eventually led to the Knicks needing overtime to beat the lowly Milwaukee Bucks in mid-December. Friday night, J.R. Smith tried his hardest to top Bargs’ ineptitude. With the score tied 100-100 against the Houston Rockets, the Knicks managed to corral an offensive rebound, and, because the shot clock was off, (presumably) hold for a final shot. But these are the Knicks we’re talking about, and all logic went flying out the window as soon as the ball landed in J.R.’s hands at the top of the key.
J.R. squared up for a three point shot that clanged off the rim, after which Houston’s Aaron Brooks was fouled chasing the rebound. Brooks hit the ensuing free throws, giving the Knicks 17 seconds to get off another shot to tie or win the game. They didn’t (although it was really fun watching them over-pass, and pass up open shots, for the entire sequence) and lost, which, in a way, makes J.R.’s bonehead three even more boneheaded than Bargs’. At worst — AT WORST — the game should have gone to overtime, where the Knicks would have been forgiven for eventually losing, especially considering they were playing the second night of a Texas rodeo back-to-back.
So, I guess we’ll just call it a tie.
UPDATE: Now with Angry Knicks Fan reaction (NSFW — swearing)
UPDATE 2: J.R. thought the Knicks were down two.
J.R. Smith says he thought the Knicks were down 2 when he took the ill advised three. “That’s bad basketball IQ on me,” he said.
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) January 4, 2014
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