The New York Knicks late game rally falls short against the Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks fall victim to a Dirk Nowitzki buzzer beater, that rimmed in and out, and unfortunately for the Knicks… back in.

The buzzer beater gave Dallas a 110-108 victory, which held of an incredible comeback by New York. With timely three-point shooting and great defense the Knicks clawed themselves back into the game.  Even if it wasn’t timely, the Knicks insisted on shooting themselves back into the game with threes. In an incredible one minute sequence that showed New York stubbornness to shot the three, New York shot five three-point field goals, grabbing five offensive rebound, forcing up another three with every miss, until Carmelo Anthony  finally knocked down a three to cut the deficit to 100-103 with 2:43 remaining.

On the next Knicks’ possession Tim Hardaway Jr. would launch and misfire a three, he was 2/8 Monday night from downtown. Jose Calderon on the ensuing possession would knock down his fifth three-pointer of the game, giving him 20 points in the game, and it giving Dallas a 106-100 lead with a little under two minutes to play in the game. Anthony would launch and misfire a three on the ensuing Knicks’ possession. Brandan Wright then broke free for a layup, giving Dallas a 108-100 lead with 1:37 remaining in the game.

It looked like the Knicks were dead in the water, but the Knicks were able to hit some timely shots, and apply pressure on the defensive end to comeback. Raymond Felton scored on a layup, within ten seconds to quickly cut into the Mavericks’ lead. Then Monta Ellis shoved off, the offensive foul, turned the ball over back to the Knicks, leading to a Tyson Chandler and-one that got the Knicks within one possession 108-105. Chandler would then steal the ball from Ellis, leading to a fast break three by Carmelo Anthony to tie the game up at 108 with 50.3 seconds left in the game.

New York would be able to get a defensive stop, and gave themselves a chance to win the game. Unfortunately Carmelo Anthony waived off the play and just basically isolated almost all of the 24 second shot clock away, before passing it to J.R. Smith who had no choice but to heave a wild shot to try to beat the shot clock. Dallas would go to Dirk Nowitzki out of a timeout, and then he would proceed to make “probably the ugliest game-winner I’ve ever shot.” What I do not understand is that why New York left Carmelo Anthony on an island to guard Nowitzki with ten seconds remaining. Anthony is not a defensive stopper, and his teammates should have came to double to get the ball out of Dallas best playmaker’s hand.

Monday night game was an offensive extravaganza, it should have been no surprise since Dallas is the seventh best offensive team in the league with 104.4 points per game, yet are also the seventh worst defensive team in the league allowing 102.2 points per game. It was a three point shooting clinic for both teams, 41.86% of Dallas’ shot selection was from beyond the arc. New York took even a higher clip with 43.42% of New York’s shot selection from downtown. Both teams combined to attempt 69 three-point field goals. Both Vince Carter and Carmelo Anthony displayed their sharp shooting, both connecting on 7-out-of-12 threes. Carter finished the game with 23 points. New York blew another great game from Anthony, who finished the game with 44 points 9 rebounds and 4 assists.