Q: "Who's #31?"
A: "Not Shaq"
This exchange occurs midway through the first quarter after Lakers center Chris Mihm fouls a driving Steph. It doesn't matter that the Texas alum shows promise each time he takes the court, or that he made the All-Rookie second team last year. What really matters, to opponents anyway, is that he is decidedly not Shaq. This minor fact is especially important to the Knicks as the only true center on the New York bench is coach Herb Williams. On Isiah's "athletic" team (the tallest player plays small forward and the 5-spot is manned by a platoon of gentlemen ranging from 6-9 to 6-9.
Nevertheless, #31 is not Shaq and these other things are not problems. In fact, the Knicks front line is dominating in the early going. Sweetney--a flurry of headfakes and bulk--is a young man playing with the craftiness of an aged vet. The greatest by-product of trading Nazr is the chance for Sweets to step into the starting lineup.
On the other side of the ball, Lamar Odom is the Laker eliciting the most Oohs and Aahs from the Garden crowd. Meanwhile, Kobe is booed each and every time that he touches the ball. The boos start slow, spread out, but they course through the Garden (faster than allegations of sexual impropriety on Internet) as he holds the ball longer, longer, too long. With other visiting players the boos start strong, but eventually falter. Conversely, the more the people see Kobe play the more they seem to boo him. Maybe some didn't know that they didn't like Kobe when they arrived, but after seeing him play they know it now. They boo. And except for taking over at the end of the first half, the end regulation, and the opening moments of OT Kobe's presence was absent from large stretches of the game.
The amount of cognitive dissonance required to be a Kobe Bryant fan is approaching red-state levels. How does a mother bring her young son or daughter to this game adorned in a Kobe jersey, as a Kobe is an admitted adulterer and an accused rapist? How does any true Laker fan harbor any love for this guy after he exiles Shaq and Phil, effectively breaking up the dynasty? The Knicker-Blogger is all for irrational behavior, but the prevalence of Kobe jerseys throughout the Garden is incomprehensible. A couple sitting a few rows down is decked out in matching Kobe jerseys. How cute. It would seem that this guy can probably get away with a whole lot if his lady-friend is so understanding when it comes to Kobe's actions. As she chants "Go Kobe, Go Kobe" to the tune of that old standard "Go Sheila, it's your birthday!" One (and by one I mean to say I) can't help but chime in the with the infinitely catchier, "Go Kobe, Go to Jail. Go Kobe, Go to Jail." The two Lakers fans are not amused. Actually, the guy definitely cracked a smile while the girlfriend, well, she did not smile.
Still, Kobe is not the real story tonight. The Knicks center-less frontline is the story. Sweetney is just working the paint. In the second quarter Kurt Thomas got the loudest applause I've ever heard for a defensive stop. He stands up Lamar Odom as he slashes through the lane seemingly un-deterable towards the hoop, once Odom has stopped driving the Lakers iso him and Thomas on the elbow, but Odom cannot shake Kurt. Odom tries to kick the ball out and Steph swoops in to pick it off. The Garden goes crazy.
However, as the game wears on it becomes clear that Tim Thomas is the star of this game. Not Kobe, not Steph, but Tim "no longer referred to as Tiny" Thomas. He cannot be stopped. Every single Laker, three of the Laker girls, and the dude who used to carry around Shaq's edition of Bartlett's Quotation Dictionary all try to guard Thomas at some point in the game. People in the stands are yelling for whichever Knick has the ball to just "Pass it to Thomas." It is surreal. He is hitting shots with three defenders draped over him and his hands tied behind his back. The man who until recently barely averaged 10 points per, scores 17 points in the 3rd quarter alone. During a timeout my brother has to call Thomas' mom just to make sure she is taping the game.
On the broad shoulders of Tim Thomas the Knicks climb to a 83-68 lead at the end of the 3rd quarter. Lakers coach, Frank Hamblen spends the final minutes of the quarter sitting in his chair discussing the Slavic involvement in the European Union with Vlade Divac (sartorally resplendent in jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt).
Yet, somehow, predictably, the wheels come off. The center (so to speak) will not hold. The Knicks start the 4th quarter with Crawford at the point, Penny as the two-guard, Ariza at small forward, Taylor as power forward, and Malik Rose at center. Although this organization is only a guess as all the players are roughly the same height. Regardless, with no true point guard on the floor the team repeatedly turns the ball over with the help of series of poor passes. On defense, the referees seem only able to maintain respiration by breathing through their whistles; Herb's b-lineup racks up fouls at a clock-stopping rate, and the Lakers are hitting their foul shots. All of a sudden the lead is down from 14-15 and hovering around 9-11.
Steph, Timmy, and Kurt check back in with a little over 7:30 remaining in the regulation. The score is 89-78, good guys. Still, the music of a referee's whistle sets the beat as the Lakers continue their parade to the free throw line.
A pair of Brian Grant free throws make the score 101-92 with 2:27 left. Following the free throws Mike Sweetney brings the ball up the floor. The Knicks are nursing a 9-point lead with just over two minutes left and they let their potentially portly, second-year power forward bring the ball up the court! Steph just jogs up the sideline and hangs out on the wing? To Sweetney's credit he moves the ball up well, and even breaks some Laker ankles with a nifty cross-over. He does all of this right before he turns the ball over. Thankfully the Lakers turn it over on their subsequent trip down the floor leading to a Marbury layup.
Knicks lead 103-92.
Kobe is fouled next trip down the floor. He hits 1 of 2. Knicks lead 103-93.
Steph is fouled next trip down the floor. He hits 2 of 2. Knicks lead 105-93.
The Knicks hold the Lakers scoreless on their next trip, but cannot capitalize as they turn the ball over on a shot-clock violation. Another late game shot-clock violation. The chants of DEE-FENSE are punctuated not by clapping rather by the sound of knees knocking and hearts pounding throughout the Garden.
Chucky Atkins hits a 3. Knicks lead 105-98.
Kurt Thomas is fouled. He hits 1 of 2. Knicks lead 106-98.
The crowd starts leaving.
Odom hits a 3. Knicks lead 106-101.
Marbury receives the inbounds pass. The Lakers are not pressing. Rather, than holding the ball, milking the clock, Steph fires a baseball pass down court to Tim Thomas. The pass is intercepted by the Lakers.
Another 3. Knicks lead 106-104. There are 19 seconds left. Steph is fouled.
With the heavy departure of so many Knicks fans, the Lakers fans can be heard supporting their team. Bad vibes and hung heads. The obnoxious Lakers fans a few rows down are going nuts. The boos (from the Lakers' fans) are plainly audible when Steph steps to the line.
Steph hits 1 of 2 shots. Knicks lead 107-104.
Kobe hits a 3 with 4.4. seconds remaining. Knicks no longer lead, as the score is tied at 107.
Crawford forces up a shot, well-defended by Kobe, at the buzzer that does not fall.
Ah, Overtime.
Momentum is entirely on the Lakers side, as is about half of the remaining crowd. The Knicks heads hang low, shoulders slouched, eyes on the floor.
Please, not again.
The Lakers win the opening tip of the overtime session and quickly jump out to a lead. Everyone has seen this before. A close game goes to overtime, and one team dominates the extra session en route to a 8-10 point victory.
The Lakers lead 115-111.
With the Knicks trailing 113-115 Crawford skies high up to intercept a Laker pass, the Knicks are fast breaking, Marbury misses the driving layup, Kurt Thomas misses the putback, Tim Thomas gets above the rim, above the crowd of Lakers who decended around the hoop, Tim tips the ball in! Tim Thomas is finally playing BIG, and using his 6-foot, 11-inch height around the rim. He backpedals down the court, hand still raised, basking in the delerium of the remaining crowd.
The Lakers no longer lead, the Knicks no longer trail, the score is tied 115-115.
The Lakers bring the ball up the floor. Steal! Marbury gets the steal (and doesn't pass it to Sweetney to handle). The Knicks call a timeout with 12.1 seconds left.
After receiving the inbounds near midcourt Marbury is fouled by Atkins as he dribbles around the perimeter. The sweat is pouring from my brother as if he has been on the court also trying to defend Tim Thomas. The night's third heart attack has begun to reverberates from the tips of my fingers down through the cuticles of my toenails.
Steph hits the first foul shot. The Knicks lead 116-115.
The Lakers call a timeout to ice Steph. If he misses this shot everyone knows that the Lakers will somehow score to win. It is a given.
"This is either the best thing or worst thing that has ever happened to me."--my brother during the time-out.
Steph hits the second shot. Exhales and exuberation. The Knicks lead 117-115.
The Lakers call a time-out. The Garden P.A. goes straight into playing the Bachman Turner Overdrive classic "Taking Care of Business," which it follows up with the greatest amp-up song of all-time, "Black Betty" by the oft forgotten Ram Jam. This is arguably the best combo of songs after a big play at a sporting event, there is no better soundtrack to high-fiving and drinking beer out of plastic cups.
Meanwhile, no one in the Laker huddle is really listening to Hamblen. Kobe stairs above his head, across the court, and at the basket he needs to get to in a matter of seconds. Caron Butler stands outside the huddle going through the motions of his jumpshot.
The inbounds comes into Kobe, Kurt Thomas d's him up just outside the 3-point line. Tick, tick. Kobe drives past Kurt into the paint, tick, tick, dishes to a cutting Luke Walton who gets caught off his feet, tick, tick, and passes the ball back to Kobe, tick, tick, Kobe faces up to basket only to find Kurt Thomas blocking his way to the hoop, tick, tick, Kobe turns away from the basket, tick, tick, puts the ball on the floor, tick, tick, BUZZZER. Kobe slams the ball off the court in disgust and charges for the locker room.
The Knicks lead 117-115.
*Fun Fact 0' the Night: During virtually every time out there was some sort of corporate sponsored shooting contest. From Foxwoods to Continental Airlines, from HSBC to HBO it seemed like every corporate sponsor was offering someone something to make a shot from somewhere on the court. Normally there are a few of these a game, and these sorts of things alternate time-outs with the Knicks City Dancers, the Knicks City Kids, and those kids that do the flips and the crazy jumps. However, it seems like the Knicks City Kids must have come down with a collective case of the chicken pox and in turn infected the jumpers because every time-out the crowd was shown another middle-aged overweight guy from Astoria who made Chris Dudley look like Mark Price.
and the news:
NY Times: recap; Bryant as choke-artist (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)
NY Daily News
NY Post: recap; Intensity=Infighting; Kobe
ESPN
Yahoo/AP
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