BOSTON — Carmelo Anthony said he couldn’t get to Delonte West quick enough to immediately foul him in the final moments of last night’s Game 2, a failure that allowed several seconds to run off the clock and essentially sealed the Knicks’ defeat.
“I couldn’t get out there,” Anthony said before indicating that he was worn out. “I don’t want to fall flat now.”
Coach Mike D’Antoni said Anthony, who played almost 44 minutes and the entire second half, was drained.
“[West] just got away. I think Melo was going, ‘I don’t think I can get out there.’ He was so tired at that point,” D’Antoni said. “It was tough. He just got away from us.”
After Jared Jeffries’ pass to Bill Walker was stolen by Kevin Garnett with 4.4 seconds to go in Boston’s 96-93 victory, the Celtics called a 20-second timeout. At that point, the Knicks were down 94-93, and Boston was inbounding at halfcourt.
Even if the Celtics hit two free throws to make it a three-point game, the Knicks, assuming they fouled quickly, would have owned a few seconds to have a final game-tying shot attempt. But the Celtics inbounded to West in the backcourt, and Anthony, who was the closest to West, initially didn’t chase down the Boston guard in the backcourt, finally fouling him with just 0.6 seconds left. The inbounds play burned 3.8 crucial seconds.
Anthony credited Boston coach Doc Rivers for his inbounds call. The Knicks star said he thought the pass was going to be to the Celtic frontcourt.
“I think Doc Rivers drew up a hell of a play though, man,” Anthony said. “A lot of us thought that the ball was coming in the frontcourt. He threw it in the backcourt. It took a lot of time off the clock. You’ve got to take your hat off to Doc for drawing up a hell of a play like that.”
Added Jeffries, “We talked about it. We just didn’t think they would go to Delonte in that situation. We thought they would try to get the ball to Ray [Allen].”