With Dwight Howard still shelved by a strained right knee, Terrence Jones entering his third week sidelined by a peroneal nerve contusion and Patrick Beverley out nursing a strained left hamstring, the New York Knicks entered Monday's road game against the Houston Rockets thinking that, despite the wide disparity in the two teams' records and early-season statistical profiles, they had a real chance at pulling the upset. Those chances seemed to take a sizable hit when top dog Carmelo Anthony began experiencing back spasms that would keep him out for the entire second half and leave him in considerable pain after the game, but the Knicks hung around, taking a six-point lead and forcing a Houston timeout after a Tim Hardaway Jr. 3-pointer with 8:51 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The difference over that final 8:51, though? Houston had James Harden, and the Knicks didn't:
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Harden scored 12 points after Hardaway's 3-pointer, grabbing four rebounds and dishing three assists without a turnover in the final 8:51 to propel the Rockets to a 91-86 win that improved Houston to 11-3 on the season.
"I just wanted to be aggressive when my teammates look for me to knock down shots and try to make plays," said Harden, who finished with a game-high 36 points (11-for-22 from the field, 7-for-12 from 3-point land, 7-for-7 from the foul line) to go with six rebounds, six assists, three steals and five turnovers in the win, according to Jordan Godwin of The Associated Press.
The All-Star shooting guard certainly did that, outscoring the Knicks 12-8 by himself during the game's deciding stretch. As is Harden's analytically friendly (if not necessarily pleasing-to-the-eye) custom, he did his late-game damage from beyond the arc, hitting two big triples, and from the foul line, where he went a perfect 6-for-6 after Hardaway's 3. The Rockets star's repeated trips to the charity stripe helped Houston put New York away, and at least one Knick — power forward Amar'e Stoudemire — didn't seem especially convinced that all those trips were well-earned. Hear it from STAT's own mouth, thanks to the fine folks at ClutchFans:
Or, if you'd prefer, read all about it, courtesy of Marc Berman of the New York Post:
Stoudemire chose an interesting metaphor to describe the way James Harden rallied the Rockets to victory. In fact, Stoudemire thinks Harden’s 6-of-6 free-throw shooting line in the final period was something out of divine intervention.
In a clear slap at the officiating, Stoudemire said: “It was like an angel came down and started calling calls for him. Down the stretch, I don’t see how he was getting those foul calls.’’
It's easy to understand Stoudemire's frustration after watching Harden keep the Knicks at arm's length at the line. And it's possible, of course, that referees will at some points give Harden the benefit of the doubt on a coin-flip call because of his earned reputation as someone who seeks out and creates contact — he's finished in the top 10 in free throws made and attempted in each of the last three years, and leads the NBA in both categories thus far this season, getting to the line 10 times per game.
But as Brett Pollakoff of ProBasketballTalk notes, while Harden's first trip to the line came on a perhaps questionable call against Stoudemire at the 3:07 mark, the other two fouls — both by Knicks guard Iman Shumpert, one a hack to prevent a Harden layup at 1:13, the other a reach to prevent a Harden drive at 0:41 — look pretty legit on second viewing. Maybe Amar'e was just stinging from the perceived injustice of his fifth foul. (Or by the bounce pass that Harden threaded through his wickets for a bucket by Rockets big man Donatas Motiejunas.)
If he was looking for a more legitimate gripe, Stoudemire might've been better served wondering why the refs refused to call more fouls on the Knicks, who tried like heck to hack Harden when they trailed by five in the final 8.8 seconds so they could stop the clock and extend the game. The absence of a late whistle seemed really odd watching live, and infuriated several Knicks — including normally reserved point guard Jose Calderon — as the final buzzer came and went. With those final-possession prayers unanswered, the Knicks fell to 4-11, and now must hope for some heavenly intercession on their behalf to get Anthony back up and running as they continue their Texas trip with a visit to former teammate Tyson Chandler and the high-scoring Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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