Thank You, Jordan Crawford. Signed, The New York Knicks.
The Miami Heat were tied 1-1 in their playoff series with the Indiana Pacers last year, and were getting blown off the court in Game 3. After a technical foul sent LeBron James to the line, he missed his free throw. Then, Lance Stephenson, a no-name at the time, performed a choking gesture aimed at LeBron. The unfortunate gesture essentially turned around the entire series.
Even though LeBron didn't think much of Stephenson after the game, the move clearly made an impact on him. In Game 4, he went off for 40 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists, leading the Heat to a series tie. In fact, the Heat did not lose another game in that Pacers series, and LeBron went on to play brilliant basketball for the remainder of the postseason. The cherry on top for the Heat was Stephenson getting leveled by Miami big man Dexter Pittman in Game 5.
After the Celtics beat the Knicks at Madison Square Garden in Game 5, Crawford reportedly said to Anthony, "That motherfucker (referring to Celtics forward Kevin Garnett) fucked your wife."
Melo already had enough reasons to be mad, including making only 18 of his combined 59 shots (30.5 percent) in the Knicks losses in Games 4 and 5. Now, with the fact that his wife, LaLa Anthony, is the hot topic amongst national media, he will be playing with the goal of embarrassing the Celtics as much as possible for the remainder of the series.
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The Knicks have been one of the elite offenses this season. They averaged 15.9 isolations in the regular season, but that number jumps up to 26.6 in the postseason. In Game 5, the Knicks had 27 possessions in which they drew up an isolation play. They mustered just 14 points and two foul calls on those 27 possessions. The Knicks simply need to become more unselfish and have better ball movement in Game 6.
Also, the Knicks didn't have J.R. Smith for Games 4 or 5. Yes, I know J.R. came back for Game 5 after his Game 4 suspension, but he was extremely ineffective. In fact, the Knicks probably would have been better off without Smith's 3-14 shooting from the field in Game 5.
Sorry Boston and NBA fans who want history to be made, but Crawford killed your chances of coming back from a 3-0 deficit. Interestingly enough, a similar storyline has picked up from the other series which involves a 3-0 potential series comeback.
Royce White, a first-round pick for the Houston Rockets who hasn't even played in the NBA this year, trash-tweeted at Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant after Durant's zero-point fourth quarter. The two tweets were, "And… that's why you play the games. That @okcthunder team just looked shook. They're looking shaky baby," and to Durant, "@KDTrey5… Y'all are looking SHAAAKYY BAAABYY."
It's embarrassing to see guys who can't walk the walk try to talk the talk with the NBA's best. Truth is though, they trade their 15 seconds of game with hurting their team in the process. Like the Pacers last year, the Celtics and Rockets will wish that their scrubs kept their mouths shut while they get eliminated in their respective series.
The Knicks will be facing the Celtics in Game 6 at the Boston Garden on Friday night at 7 p.m. EST.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Max Meyer by email, or follow him on Twitter.