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Jalen Brunson repeated the same answer to reporters’ questions about his pivotal last-second foul.
“It was a great call,” he said. “Next question.”
The Knicks dropped the first matchup of a three-game road trip, Monday’s 105-103 loss at the Houston Rockets, after a wild sequence to end the fourth quarter.
New York (33-21), which overcame a largest deficit of 16 points, tied the Rockets (24-29) at 103 apiece on Brunson’s step-back jumper over Dillon Brooks with eight seconds left.
On the ensuing Houston possession, Precious Achiuwa blocked Jalen Green‘s game-winning attempt along the baseline. Aaron Holiday recovered Achiuwa’s block well behind the arc and, with one hand, heaved a prayer.
Brunson contested the shot and, on the closeout, committed a foul that led to three free throws for Holiday. The call on the floor stood after an official-initiated review, and Holiday sank the first two attempts with 0.1 seconds left to stun New York.
“The thing with the officials — this is the way I feel about that in general,” said Tom Thibodeau, whose team shot 12 free throws while Houston had 33. “I don’t really care how tight the game is called. You can call it tight or you call it loose. I would just like the consistency to be the same.
“And they have a job. They have to control and manage the game. That’s the No. 1 responsibility. So they have to use their judgment, and I have respect for that. So it didn’t go our way tonight.”
Right or wrong, the end result gives the Knicks a three-game skid entering Wednesday’s 7 p.m. tip-off at the 29-24 Orlando Magic.
“I didn’t play well for the majority of the game,” said the tight-lipped Brunson, who scored a game-high 27 points on 10-of-25 shooting. “Obviously, we tied it and then Precious made a good defensive play and then they made a good call.”
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jalen-brunson-tom-thibodeau-react-044719422.html
Author : SNY
Publish date : 2024-02-13 04:47:19
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