Written by William Lee

New York falls 4.5 games behind the eighth seeded Atlanta Hawks Friday night in the Eastern Conference Standings.

The Knicks lost to the third worst team in the league, the Orlando Magic 129-121 in double overtime. Victor Oladipo had a magical night, he was one rebound shy of collecting his second triple double in his rookie campaign, collecting 30 points 9 rebounds and 14 assists. He was the driving force behind the Magic’s victory, getting two and-one finishes under two minute mark in the second overtime. Oladipo was able to get into the lane all night with his dribble penetration, which led him to finishing around the rim, or pass the ball out to a wide open teammate.

New York yet again…wasted another spectacular night by Carmelo Anthony, who finished the game with 44 points 11 rebounds and 4 assists. Anthony at one point made nine field goals in a row, including a three-point shot where he made a spin move to elude Tobias Harris and stepped back. Anthony battled Harris all night long, as much points as Anthony had, it was Harris who got the last laugh, when Harris pushed Anthony out of bounds with 22.2 seconds remaining in regulation. No push off foul was called, but the Magic would miss their opportunity to win the game in regulation after a timeout.

Both teams missed opportunities to win the game in regulation and the first overtime. The Magic missed plenty of layups around the rim, and the Knicks shots rimmed in and out on several occasions. One of the bigger missed opportunities for the Knicks was when Tyson Chandler broke free to do a reverse ally-opp dunk. Unfortunately Chandler turning around placed his head right under the rim, where it bounced off the top of his head, and right back out of the net. After a brief referee gathering, they called it an offensive goaltending interference. At that point the game was tied at 113 with 1:07 remaining in the first overtime. There were no more scores afterwards, so that dunk, if not for the unfortunate placement of his body, could have given New York the game winning field goal.

The game would go to a second overtime, as Nikola Vucevic missed another potential game winning layup, after he had already missed one in regulation. Vucevic though still had a great game scoring 14 points and collecting 15 rebounds before he fouled out in the second overtime.

Carmelo Anthony was the only player to score in the second overtime, hitting back to back threes, just to keep the Knicks in the game. New York was outscored 16-8 in the final period, with Victor Oladipo alone matching Anthony’s eight points offensive output in the second overtime.

It was back and forth all game long, with 10 lead changes and 15 ties in the game. New York lost to an Orlando Magic that was the third worst team in the league, entering Friday night 16-40. The Magic are in the bottom ten in literally almost all statistical categories. This was a terrible loss, and it will be compounded, if this double overtime loss, with players playing extended minutes, affect the Knicks tomorrow night. New York will have no rest as they travel to Atlanta immediately for a Saturday night game against the Hawks. It will be a great chance to make up ground, gaining a full game if victorious, but how much did the double overtime game take out of the Knicks already.