So maybe the Knicks are the team that the Spurs want to emulate.
This was a game that defied logic, common sense and Las Vegas oddsmakers. The Knicks, they of the .197 winning percentage, shocked the world-champion San Antonio Spurs, they of the .631 winning percentage, by rallying from a 13-point deficit for a 104-100 how’d-they-do-that overtime victory Tuesday at the Garden.
“It was definitely big. We started to dig down on the defensive end, we got a few stops and then everybody was locked in, trying to just fight and dig,” said Langston Galloway, who scored 11 of his game-high 22 points in the third quarter when the Knicks began the long road back. “We definitely are some fighters.”
It took Alexey Shved (21 points) deflecting a Tim Duncan pass in the closing ticks and then hitting two free throws with 3.2 seconds left in overtime for the undermanned Knicks to emerge with their biggest — and most improbable — victory of the season and leave Spurs coach Gregg Popovich feeling less than warm and fuzzy.
“It was a special game,” Shved said.
The special part was kind of lost on Popovich.
“We didn’t respect the game, we didn’t respect our opponent. It was a pathetic performance and I hope that every player is embarrassed,” Popovich said. “Not because we are supposed to win the game, quote unquote, but it is about how you play the game. I thought their movement and unselfishness was great. Their juice and competitiveness was better than ours. … So I am happy for them. It will help them get through the rest of the year. Not much else to say. It’s been a joy, have a good night.”
Well, maybe he was a little warm and fuzzy. Coach Derek Fisher, conversely, was absolutely elated as the Knicks (14-53) responded from two bitter West Coast trip-ending losses and defeats in seven of their previous eight games.
“They have this inside of them. They’re capable of doing this on more nights than we have,” Fisher said. “It symbolizes that we are growing, that we are moving in a positive direction. I don’t know if we would have been capable of this several weeks ago, a few months ago.”
But they did it Tuesday and this is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world. And one guy who did a lot was Lou Amundson. He scored 12 points — including the basket that forced overtime with 5.5 seconds left in the fourth. He collected a career-high 17 rebounds battling Duncan (17 points, eight rebounds).
“It was a special night for me going up against Timmy, who, in my opinion, is the best power forward to ever play the game,” Amundson said. “It was a special night, especially to get the win.”
The Spurs, without Manu Ginobili (ankle), were up 13 in the second quarter when Tony Parker (21 points) was “just killing me,” Galloway said. But in the third, fortunes turned.
It went to overtime after Kawhi Leonard missed a potential game-winner with 3 seconds left. Parker and Andrea Bargnani (16 points, 10 rebounds) swapped OT baskets and then the game became a battle of misses, mistakes and free throws.
Amundson committed a costly turnover at :41.7 with the Knicks up one. The Spurs next averted a similar fate when replay overturned a turnover but still came up empty on a Danny Green miss. Jason Smith made 1-of-2 at the line to make it 101-99, Knicks. San Antonio had possession with :14.7 left. Duncan was fouled and made 1-of-2. Amundson did the same the other way setting up Duncan’s fateful pass.
“We had opportunities to come away with it and didn’t take advantage of those opportunities,” Duncan said.
“Tough loss. They made shots, we didn’t. We should have won even if Manu isn’t playing. We just didn’t play well enough,” Parker said.
Or as well as the Knicks.
Carmelo Anthony arrived long before game time for treatment on his surgically repaired knee and to attend a Garden charity event. … Cleanthony Early (ankle) and Tim Hardaway (wrist) sat for the Knicks. … Jose Calderon was to have his left Achilles re-evaluated. He has missed the last 11 games.