The Knicks needed to lose, and they tried really hard! But then two of their players sabotaged it by having the best games of their careers.
The Knicks very blatantly should have lost their last two games.
The team with the worst record in the NBA has the best chance at the first pick in the draft and is guaranteed to be a top four pick. The Knicks had the worst record in the NBA, a game worse than the Timberwolves. All they needed to do to secure that was lose out.
But the Knicks didn't lose. They beat Orlando, 80-79, in Orlando because Cole Aldrich decided to have the best game of his career and Tim Hardaway, Jr. decided to hit a game-winning three. Then they beat Atlanta -- the best team in the Eastern Conference! -- 112-108 in Atlanta, because Langston Galloway decided to have the best game of his career.
The Knicks had only managed three winning streaks all season. They managed their fourth in improbable scenarios in games they should have lost to, because players can't tank.
Now the Knicks have the second-worst record in the league. They'd have to lose their last game and the Timberwolves would need to lose their last game to merely share the best chance in the league at getting the No. 1 pick.
But the Timberwolves will not win their last game. They have become absolutely incredible at losing, dropping 11 straight. Their final game of the year is against the Thunder, who need a win to make the playoffs. Both teams will benefit from the Timberwolves losing this game. The Timberwolves will lose this game. It is the surest thing in world history.
★★★
Front offices can tank. They can do this by putting out a team that shouldn't win basketball games.
The Knicks' front office is tanking. They are doing this by outfitting the Knicks with a roster almost completely bereft of talent worthy of NBA minutes. The Knicks' current healthy roster features players who combined for 105 NBA starts before this season. 95 of these were by Jason Smith, primarily by New Orleans teams that missed the playoffs. Seven were by Lou Amundson for the 2010-11 Warriors. Three were by Tim Hardaway Jr. and Cole Aldrich on last year's Knicks.
You might point out that NBA starts in previous years is a bad stat, since a great rookie wouldn't have any previous starts. But the Knicks don't really have a great rookie -- they didn't have a first round draft pick this year.
From this squad of guys passed over by other NBA squads, the Knicks have to start five players every game.
Coaches can tank. They can do this by playing players who shouldn't win basketball games.
Derek Fisher did this in a pretty obvious way the other night. Cole Aldrich was the best player on the court in Knicks-Magic -- yes, really! He was! He had a team-high 19 points and a game-high 14 boards. -- and yet Fisher pulled him with three minutes to go in a tied game and never put him back in. He had five fouls... but typically at some point you bring in the guy with five fouls! He just had the best player on the court in a given game sit down because it was close.
★★★
Players can't tank. Every time you ask a player on a crappy team about tanking, they're resolute in quickly, angrily answering that they're playing as hard as they can. They do this in part because of pride and competitive nature, because nobody wants to play poorly on purpose. And they do this in part because their career depends on it. In the grand scheme of things, a player on a tanking team's allegiance is to themselves, not the tanking team that might not bring them back next year. They have to play as well as they can so other teams notice and choose to pay them money in future.
Derek Fisher said as much after the Knicks' fluky win:
"I'm sure people are upset with us... That has no bearing on these guys' lives and their careers and their livelihoods -- who we pick next year," Fisher said. "This is about them, and they went out and played that way."
Cole Aldrich had played 193 NBA games before Sunday's game. He had scored 10 points in 14 of these. He just happened to go off for 19 and 14 in a game the Knicks ended up winning by one point.
Langston Galloway is not a good shooter. Entering Monday's game, he was a 33.1 percent shooter. The league average is 35 percent. He hit all six of his threes. There is a .13 percent chance that a 33.1 percent shooter who takes six threes will hit all six, so, a little bit better than one in a thousand. But sure enough, he hit all six, tallying 26 points on just 12 shots, and the Knicks beat a significantly better team on the road because Jeff Teague missed a late layup.
The Knicks needed to lose, and everybody but the players on the court tried to make it happen. But sometimes, somebody just goes off. And it will hurt them.
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