Harrington, Knicks Prevail in OT Thriller vs. Wizards
The skid is finally over.
It was 23 days since the New York Knicks had last won a game before David Lee drained a game-winning layup with 1.6 seconds left to snap a season-high eight-game losing streak with a 118-116 overtime victory over the Wizards in the nation’s capital on Saturday night.
“It seems like it was about 123 days,” said Lee, who finished with 25 points, 16 rebounds and five assists. “We had some chances tonight to put the game away and didn’t do it, and I kept thinking the Oklahoma City game when we were up five or six and lost that lead. But tonight everybody hung together.”
It truly was a team effort for the Knicks, who saw their three most explosive scorers step up at different points in the game. Tracy McGrady started the scoring with 23 points in 25 minutes before going to the bench for good with over two minutes left in the third quarter and Al Harrington exploded for 37 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter and four of the Knicks’ six in overtime.
But when it came to the final shot of the game, Coach Mike D’Antoni put the ball in his most consistent player’s hands and Lee knew what to do with it. The 6-foot-9 center took it right at Wizards big man JaVale McGee, who had blocked five shots, including rejecting the Knicks’ final attempt of regulation.
“First of all, JaVale McGee I think blocked about 25 shots tonight,” Lee said. “The coach called an iso for me at the top of the key, I gave a look to the right side for some fake action and then came back on the crossover. All I was thinking the whole time was trying to get my shoulder into him so I could stop him from getting a full jump and just finish the play and run back on defense.”
It might have come as a surprise that Lee had the ball in his hands for the final shot since seven-time All-Star McGrady joined the team at last week’s trade deadline. But D’Antoni decided to rest McGrady for the entire fourth quarter and extra period because of the Knicks’ back-to-back set that wraps up Saturday night against the Memphis Grizzlies at Madison Square Garden.
McGrady is still looking to improve on his conditioning after his comeback from microfracture knee surgery. Prior to joining the Knicks at the trade deadline, he played a total of 45 minutes in six games with the Houston Rockets this season.
“It gave opportunities for other guys to finish the game,” D’Antoni said.
McGrady scored five of the Knicks first 10 points in the third quarter to give the Knicks their first lead of the game at 62-61. But after the Wizards rallied back and looked to regain control of the game, it was Harrington who came alive in the fourth quarter and carried the Knicks the rest of the way, making it possible for Lee to become the hero.
Harrington shot 12-for-21 from the field, including 5-for-8 from downtown in his best game since the Knicks reshuffled their roster with three separate trades on Feb. 18.
New York looks to make it two in a row tonight vs. Memphis. Click here for tickets to see Zach Randolph, O.J. Mayo and the Grizzlies in their lone Garden appearance this season.
