If it weren’t so sad, it would be hilarious. Al Harrington officially earned a spot in the Knicks’ Knucklehead Hall of Fame.
Harrington swung on the rim too long again, and coach Mike D’Antoni looked like he wanted to take a swing at his embattled player.
In an incredible spate of déjà vu that saw the Knicks coach finally hit the breaking point, Harrington duplicated his bone-headed, rim-hanging technical foul in the final 30 seconds that cost them a point and the game.
Again!
Harrington’s gaffe forced overtime against the awful Clippers (18-54), who dominated the extra session as the Knicks completed an absurd 140-135 loss at the stunned Garden. The Clippers, who shot 58 percent, snapped an eight-game road-losing streak.
“If it happened to any other team, I’d be laughing,” D’Antoni said. “But it’s the Knicks, so I want to cry.”
The Knicks are a Shakespearean tragedy, losing on a night when the 55th pick in the 2008 draft — unknown Clippers point guard Mike Taylor — racked up a career-high 35 points. Yes, Mike Taylor!
The exact scenario unfolded at Staples Center on Feb. 11 when the Clippers took advantage of a Harrington rim-hanging technical in the final 30 seconds to force overtime, and Los Angeles went on to beat the Knicks 128-124. It was the Knicks’ sixth straight loss at the time, and the Knicks’ sixth straight loss now in this dead season.
With 27.9 seconds left, Harrington appeared to seal the win by spinning past his man for a vicious dunk, which gave the Knicks a 127-124 lead. Nevertheless, Harrington swung on the rim, and referee Scott Foster whistled him for a technical.
D’Antoni flipped out, stomping up and down, screaming at Harrington and waving his arms wildly. Harrington ran over to D’Antoni, palms upward, trying to explain to his raging coach he thought a man under him. A fan behind the bench roared at Harrington, holding up two fingers, signifying it was the second time.
“At that point, you just got to get past that and win the game,” D’Antoni said he told Harrington. “Just win the game.”
They did not and Harrington’s 38 points were wasted. At Staples last month, Harrington punctuated the dunk by slapping the backboard. Foster told Harrington he slapped the backboard again last night. Replays showed Harrington appeared to touch the backboard for balance.
“I spun baseline and my momentum took me that way, all you got to do is look at the tape,” a ticked-off Harrington said. “It was crazy. He also said I slapped the backboard. I didn’t slap the backboard. Al Thornton walked underneath, and I tried to get off as quick as I could.”
Rookie Eric Gordon made the technical foul to make it a two-point game. On the ensuing play Zach Randolph was fouled inside with 13.3 seconds left and made both. It was eerie, because in the loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles, Harrington’s technical after a dunk turned a 3-point Knicks lead to two points and Randolph tied it to send the game to overtime.
You can’t make this stuff up, especially that Taylor, a second-round pick, become unguardable. He lit up the Knicks up for more than double his career-high. He had 35 points in 36 minutes with eight rebounds.
The Twilight Zone began when the Knicks built a 27-8 lead in the first quarter and blew almost all of it by halftime, when they led by just one, 66-65.
The Knicks (28-43) dropped 15 games under .500 and playoff elimination is looming. David Lee, the team’s most accessible player, stormed out of the locker room without talking.
Randolph, whom the Knicks traded on Nov. 21, finished with 33 points. Gordon, the player many fans wished they drafted over injured Danilo Gallinari, finished with 19.
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A date has yet to be set on Gallinari’s impending surgery that sources have told The Post is less invasive than the standard disc procedure.
A source said the bulging disc that receded caused Gallinari to have a pinched nerve. A bone pressing on the bone will be shaved down to alleviate pressure and the organization is hoping it will make the pain disappear in his lower back and leg.
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