J.R. Smith not only couldn’t make a shot at the Toyota Center, he couldn’t keep score.
The Iman Shumpert 2014 Texas Revival Tour continued Friday night, but the Knicks found a new unique way to lose by disintegrating in the final 25 seconds. It was lowlighted by Smith’s decision to fire up a quick 3-pointer — and not hold for the final shot — with 22 seconds left on the shot clock in a tie game after Tyson Chandler had ripped down an offensive rebound.
Coach Mike Woodson and Carmelo Anthony took Smith to task afterward for bad clock management after Smith missed the wide-open look. It led to a series of events that propelled the Rockets to a 102-100 victory, spoiling Shumpert’s second straight monster night when he bagged 26 points and made 6 of 6 3-pointers.
But nobody could come through in the end like they did in the San Antonio shocker, and Smith was the biggest villain. He admitted afterward he thought the Knicks were down two points and not tied when he launched the 3-ball. Smith, who finished with nine points, was 3 of 13, 1 of 8 from the 3-point line, continuing his horrid season.
“Honestly, I thought we were down 2 when I shot the ball,’’ Smith said. “I started hearing Tyson say, ‘Noooo, don’t take the shot.’ Just a good shot, bad timing. I realized right after. Bad basketball IQ by me.
“We should’ve won the game. I got to hold the ball for the last shot and do what he does and get the ball to Anthony and let him do what he does. It didn’t happen.’’
Despite Smith’s ice-cold shooting, Woodson stuck with him to the bitter end. Woodson said Smith made the lower-percentage play but added a caveat.
“Yeah I was surprised [J.R. took the shot],’’ Woodson said. “Had he made it, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. We probably should’ve held it for the last shot and try to win it that way. But hey had he made it, I wouldn’t be saying what I’m saying now. [But] we weren’t smart coming down the home stretch.’’
Chandler said the Smith snafu was “a learning experience.’’
“It’s easy to say now, but it’s a learning experience,’’ Chandler said. “Because you wait for the last shot to win the game or you go to overtime.’’.
Anthony, who finished with 25 points but went quiet in the fourth quarter and was schooled by James Harden, piled on with the Smith criticism, even comparing it to the more egregious Andrea Bargnani boneheaded shot in Milwaukee. The Knicks were leading at the time when Bargnani fired up a brick with a new shot clock after Chandler hauled in the offensive rebound.
“Kind of like déjà vu,’’ Anthony said.
Except the Knicks rallied to win the Milwaukee game. They still had their chances after Smith’s miss and Aaron Brooks’ two free throws put the Rockets up two with 17 seconds to go.
Anthony passed on a final shot and the red-hot Shumpert dribbled to the foul line and attempted a pullup. It fell short, but Andrea Bargnani got the offensive rebound with 10.9 seconds left. The Knicks whipped the ball around in scramble mode until new starting point guard Beno Udrih drove the lane and shot a leaner at the buzzer that went in and out.
“It was a game we definitely should’ve won,’’ Anthony said. “We gave them the game tonight.’’
After storming Alamo City Thursday with a career-high 27 points, Shumpert went wild in Houston and finished with 26 points, making 9 of 14 shots and 6 of 6 from the field. But he couldn’t provide the heroic touch this time like he did in San Antonio with a game-winning tip-in.
Despite Smith’s dubious play, Shumpert supported his teammate.
“J.R. wide open at the top of the key, I’m taking my chances,’’ said Shumpert, 14 of 16 on 3-pointers in his last two games. “When he shoots the ball I’m going to get the rebound. I’m not about to tell J.R. to think about his shot. As a teammate that guy is aggressive and that’s how we plays. When J.R. takes a shot, we trust him.’’
Anthony, at times wincing on his newly tweaked sprain, was a non-factor in the fourth quarter, scoring just four points in the final period, going 1 of 3. Harden won the superstar battle with 37 points (10 of 19, 5 of 10 on 3-pointers), outplaying Anthony to the final whistle.