The Knicks emerged victorious from utter chaos and an “abomination” from the referees.
On the brink of a terrible collapse and redemption from Quentin Grimes, the Knicks benefitted from three rapid-succession turnovers and a swallowed whistle in the final seconds of a dramatic 113-111 victory over the Pistons on Monday night at the Garden.
With about 20 seconds left and the Knicks trailing by one, Jalen Brunson’s missed 3-pointer was rebounded by Grimes, who tossed the ball to teammate Simone Fontecchio, who turned it over to Isaiah Hartenstein, who passed it to Donte DiVincenzo, who turned it over to Ausar Thompson, who was knocked over by DiVincenzo near the sideline for another steal.
It ended with an assist from Brunson and an and-1 lay-up for Josh Hart, who missed the free throw but got the rebound — and was fouled — to close the victory. Monty Williams, coach of the league’s worst team, threw a postgame fit over DiVincenzo’s steal and had a valid point.
DiVincenzo threw his body into Thompson before dislodging the ball, and a foul call would have likely sent the Knicks to their worst loss of the season.
Instead, they received a gift after being hosed in similar fashion by a late-game officiating blunder in Houston.
Monday’s crew chief James Williams acknowledged they blew the call to a pool reporter, which was after an epic rant from Williams.
“Where’s the New York media now?” Williams said in a sparsely attended postgame media session. “The absolute worst call of the season. … That’s an abomination. You cannot miss that in an NBA game. Period. And I’m tired of talking about it. …
“You cannot dive into a guy’s legs in a big-time game like that and there be a no-call. It’s ridiculous and we’re tired of it. We just want a fair game called period, and I’ve got nothing else to say. We want a fair game called, and that was not fair. I’m done.”
James Williams said after a review that Thompson “gets to the ball first” and DiVincenzo “should’ve been whistled” for a loose ball foul.
The Knicks were pretty agreeable with the officiating.
“To me, as long as it’s not tight one way and loose the other way you can call it tight, call it loose, I’m looking for consistency,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I thought they were [consistent]. I thought it was a good, hard-fought game. I thought they played well and I thought we battled.”
DiVincenzo agreed the Knicks “dodged a bullet,” but not because of the officiating.
“You can go back the whole game and nitpick calls. Do I think we dodged a bullet overall? Yes,” DiVincenzo said. “I have great respect for Monty and everybody over there. Like I said, we dodged a bullet with the win. And whatever the opinions are, that’s fine.
“I went for the ball,” DiVincenzo added about the steal. “I didn’t look at the play. You turn the ball over, the ball is in front of you, and you go after the ball. Like I said, I respect everyone’s opinion. I can’t speak on it until I look at the film.”
It was the 14th straight win for the Knicks (35-23) over the sad-sack Pistons (8-49), the worst team in the league. Their streak started pre-pandemic but was nearly finished Monday.
But this win was both close and controversial.
Before the big sequence in the final moments, Grimes, the former Knick, nearly led the Pistons to an upset with all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead layup with 37.3 seconds left.
To survive the scare, the Knicks needed help from a referee and 35 points and 12 assists from Brunson.
The Knicks also improved to 23-2 against teams currently with losing records.
“I don’t care if it’s high scoring, low scoring. In the end find a way to win and that’s what I care about is the bottom line,” Thibodeau said.
