haven't read all the articles, but why hasn't or wasn't this asked?

Only sideway reference to this I can find from Hahn:

http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/the-knicks-fix-1.812055/analyzing-the-critical-final-sequence-of-game-2-1.2827830

Now for the failed final possession. That, too, was a set play and it almost worked to perfection...though why you would want the ball out of Carmelo's hands at that point is open for hevy scrutiny.

Let's first analyze the personnel, starting with Bill Walker, who was 0-for-11 in the game, and Jeffries, who we all know is not a very talented offensive player. But Walker's presence on the court underscores the issues the Knicks are having in this series at the shooting guard position, where rookie Landry Fields is looking overwhelmed on the offensive end to the point where D'Antoni quickly loses faith in him.

Jeffries is a different story. The Knicks were without Amar'e Stoudemire (back spasms) and Jeffries was having his best game as a Knick. He had just scored on a drive with 19.3 seconds to go to give the Knicks a 93-92 lead. He had 10 points and six rebounds and made five of seven shots. Jeffries was

Ronny Turiaf was D'Antoni's only other option at that point. Jeffries came in for him with 5:52 left in the game and played through to the final buzzer.

You're not putting an ice-cold Shelden Williams (DNP) on the floor in that situation and Shawne Williams wasn't an option either because you were better off with Jeffries' size to get an offensive rebound (he had four in the game) if need be. Again, D'Antoni could have gone to Turiaf in that situation, but chose to stick with Jeffries, who, as we said, was having a good game and was doing a decent job on Garnett. Even on the previous possession, Garnett's game-winning jump hook was defended as well as it could be defended. It was a tough shot.

The Knicks' play, which came out of a 20-second timeout, went exactly as D'Antoni designed it. A screen from Jeffries on the elbow extended freed up Carmelo to get the ball. As he turned and faced, Glen Davis left Jeffries to immediately double Carmelo, which allowed Jeffries to roll to the block unguarded.

Rather than attempt to drive against an aggressive double-team, with Davis taking up a lot of space to Melo's strong (right) side, Carmelo instead quickly threw it to Jared, who was open for a second on the block.

[Have to take a second here to shout out to Fixer Casey Lennox of Wantagh, Long Island, who emailed in the hilarious "He went to Jared?" line -- a reference to the jewelery store commercials.]

Garnett made a quick rotation off Walker at the weak side elbow and closed down on Jeffries as he caught the ball. At this point, Jeffries could have attempted a drop-step for a dunk or layup, but he clearly isn't confident in that move. As we've seen many times, Jeffries has the old Charles Smith issue: trouble converting in power-up situations (commence bad memory sequence from 1993). Garnett was on the move, so he had the energy to make a big-time block.

Instead, Jeffries read Garnett's rotation perfectly and Walker, as directed, dove behind him toward the rim with no one on him. Jeffries tried to turn quickly and slip a pass to Walker around Garnett for a dunk, but Garnett showed his quick hands by knocking the pass attempt down and then quickly dove on the loose ball and called timeout with 4.1 seconds left.

Jeffries said he did think about taking the shot, but "when I caught it, my initial route was there, but I felt like KG was coming and closing down. I have to look it up on tape. I should have went ahead and shot the ball."

Walker added, "When Jared got it, I knew all the attention was focused on him. I just wanted to dive to the basket. It was wide open. But KG made a great defensive play."

For a terrific frame-by-frame breakdown of this play, check out Sebastian Pruiti's NBAPlaybook.com.

I haven't heard anything from anyone myself but they did say during the game the coaching staff was imploring Melo and Douglas look for the guy rolling/cutting and spotted up in the corners/weakside perimeter because they were wide open....Weber and the gang.

One thing I do remember was Doc drawing up the play for his team after Effries scored and he looked at Garnett twice and told him....."We're going to you, got it...got it"....and Garnett held his head down while hearing what he said but thinking about the play he was scored on. Ironically enough he comes out of the timeout with a great jump hook and defensive play.

Reporters have asked Melo if he made the right play and he confidently stated that he did and he would do it again. And he is absolutely right, he made the right play. And the outcome might have been different had JJ not have been in there. I don't care how well he was playing...its common sense to have all scoring threats at that point in the game. I swear MDA is a genius. Did he really think they weren't going to rotate off of JJ to double team? Yes he was playing well but I wouldnt trust him in that kind of situation. It may not seem like it, but in my eyes he choked. As soon as KG came he was scared to even look at basket.