In Game 1 of the real life NBA Finals Thursday night, San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker hit a seemingly impossible shot with the basketball just out of his fingertips, all but sealing the 92-88 victory over the Miami Heat.
Virtual Raymond Felton could take some tips from Parker. With Game 6 of the Cross Bridge Battle tied at 116 and 1.3 seconds left, Felton took the inbounds pass from Tyson Chandler, turned, and hurled a 35-footer towards the basket — and drained it, seemingly sending the Cross Bridge Battle back to Madison Square Garden for Game 7, where the Knicks had won two of three games in this series.
But after a video review, the referees made the final determination: the ball was still in Felton’s hands as the buzzer sounded. No basket. Overtime.
And in overtime, Joe Johnson took over.
With Joe Johnson and Carmelo Anthony locked in a battle for the ages, the Brooklyn Nets scored 21 points in the extra five minutes to New York’s 13, earning a 137-129 victory in Game 6 and a 4-2 series victory.
Johnson finished with 47 points on 19-31 shooting, adding 9 rebounds and 4 assists, while Anthony put up 46 points of his own on 21-33 shooting.
Deron Williams once again flirted with a triple-double in the victory, finishing with 30 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, shooting 13-25 from the field, and Andray Blatche put up his biggest game of the postseason, with 22 points on 9-10 shooting and 13 rebounds.
The team’s new big 3 buoyed another silent performance from Brook Lopez, who scored just two points in 34 minutes. Lopez denies he was distracted by his bubbling excitement about Man of Steel, though it was all he would talk about before, during, and after the game.
J.R. Smith finished with 32 points on 14-22 shooting, and Raymond Felton continued his poor shooting-excellent passing combo with 9 points and 18 assists in the team’s final loss.
Felton’s shot would not have been necessary had he & Pablo Prigioni hit their free throws down the stretch. The Knicks led by four points with 27 ticks left, but Felton & Prigioni each went 1/2 from the line, opening the door for the Nets to tie the game, which they did on a layup from Williams with 1.3 seconds left.
The difference: the Nets out-rebounded the Knicks 61-31 in the win, including 16-3 on the offensive glass. No, that’s not a typo. The Nets also ended the game with 92 points in the paint, even with Lopez’s struggles.
“Inexcusable,” Knicks coach Jared Dubin said of himself after the game. “Coach Dubin is definitely getting fired this offseason. Atrocious defense all series, and blew a 4-point lead in the last 30 seconds? Pathetic.
“The alley-oop to Gerald was ridiculous. That’s not a thing. Felton needs to get that shot off at the end of regulation too. That’s just absurd. Pablo/Felton missing 2 of 4 FT’s is killer.”
Dubin, when later pressed for comment, confirmed via @Knicks_PR that Coach Dubin had been fired.
Kharpertian proceeded down DeKalb Avenue in Brooklyn to celebrate with Tony’s Pizza and take shots of Jack Daniels at Putnam’s Pub in Clinton Hill. When pressed for comment, Kharpertian drunkenly slurred “DID YOU SEE THAT JERRY SCORED!? Broooook-lynnnnn” before begging coach Dubin to come to Brooklyn. Dubin is probably in a ditch crying somewhere or something else stupid.
Box score and other relevant info from Brooklyn’s series-clinching win below.
