After charging back from a fifteen-point deficit, the Knicks managed to pull ahead by one point over the Wizards with 24 seconds to play last night. The Wizards had the ball after a time-out. Then the following things happened.
10 seconds: Bradley Beal of the Wizards drives right past Beno Udrih of the Knicks. Udrih is supposed to foul, as the Knicks have a foul to give. But he doesn’t.
7 seconds: None of the other Knicks come over to help. Beal casually lays the ball in for the lead. (“There was absolutely nobody there,” Beal said later in astonishment.)
6.9 seconds: Udrih in-bounds the ball to Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks have three time-outs. Nobody calls a time-out.
6 seconds through 3.5 seconds: Anthony strolls down the court as the seconds tick off the clock, probably expecting Mike Woodson to call that time-out any moment now.
3.5 seconds: Anthony realizes that a time-out is not forthcoming. He sprints downcourt with the ball.
2 seconds: Anthony chucks up a desperate three-point shot, which misses badly. The Knicks lose.
After the game: “I probably should have taken a time-out there at the end,” said current Knicks coach Mike Woodson. “So that’s on me … It happened so fast.” Mike Woodson has been an NBA coach for eighteen years.