The Nets want to make the playoffs. The Knicks (should) want to get the top seed in the lottery.
Fittingly, both teams nearly screwed it up tonight.
Thankfully for everyone involved, Brook Lopez converted the game-winning tip-in.
Brooklyn, despite the Celtics’ win over the Pacers tonight, is still a half game inside playoff position. New York now has a two-game advantage over the Timberwolves for the NBA’s worst record.
Overlooked: Lopez probably travelled before the basket.
At minimum, the referees and official scorer saw this play differently.
Was Lopez’s first contact with the ball a controlled tip? That was scored an offensive rebound and missed shot, and then Lopez was credited with another offensive rebound and made shot after he corralled the ball on the other side of the rim.
But if that first lefty tip was a shot, it was an air ball. If a player touches the ball first after his own air ball, it’s a travel.
Now, if Lopez were merely trying to control the ball on the first contact – not trying to tip it in the hoop – that would be fine. But it’d be one rebound and one shot for him on the play, which is not how the play was scored.