Knicks coach Mike Woodson lost track of time. And the Knicks lost a heartbreaker in the final seconds Monday night because of it.
Washington’s Bradley Beal drove by exhausted backup point guard Beno Udrih — in the game only because starting point guard Pablo Prigioni was lost with a broken big right toe for at least two weeks — to score the go-ahead layup with 6.9 seconds left.
Trailing by a point, the Knicks still had three timeouts left. But Woodson forgot to use one, perhaps thinking more seconds were on the clock. Or perhaps not thinking at all. Woodson had no choice but to admit afterward he messed up.
Carmelo Anthony leisurely dribbled upcourt, also seemingly unaware of the time, and forced a sickly off-balance 3-pointer that missed badly, glancing off the side of the backboard, and the Wizards survived 102-101 at the Garden.
Woodson took the fall for not calling a timeout that would have given the Knicks the ball at halfcourt. But Woodson also said he had instructed his players they had a foul to give on Beal and wanted them to take it. Beal scored the Wizards’ final eight points, two 3-pointers and the game-winning layup in which no Knick helped out Udrih.
“I probably should have taken the timeout at the end,’’ Woodson said.
“Beno grabbed it and the ball was in Melo’s hands before I could even react and I should have reacted a lot sooner once the ball went through, so that is on me.’’
J.R. Smith and Anthony both acknowledged they could have signaled for time also, perhaps saying so to take the heat off Woodson, whose job could catapult back into jeopardy. Knicks owner James Dolan can’t be happy about this ending.
“I think we were expecting a timeout,’’ said Anthony, who threw his headband in disgust after the final buzzer. “I think everything happened so fast. I don’t know if we were supposed to call a timeout.
We didn’t. It was a tough loss, tough way to lose a game. We’re shocked how we lost the game.’’
Even TNT’s Reggie Miller chimed in on Twitter, saying: “What NY Knicks??? Call a timeout … SMH …”
Asked about Woodson’s job, Anthony said, “As far as I know, he’s secure. Nothing to talk about.’’
There was plenty to talk about after this double whammy, tempering the joy of center Tyson Chandler likely returning Wednesday in Milwaukee.
Prigioni, second in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio behind Chris Paul, stubbed his toe with 9:49 left in the third quarter and departed for the locker room where X-rays revealed the fracture. Udrih played the rest of the way and may have been too gassed to defend Beal. But there was supposed to be help on the final Washington possession, likely from Andrea Bargnani, and an attempt at committing a non-shooting foul.
Woodson said Udrih “opened the floodgates.’’
“He was thinking the help was there, but it wasn’t there so he couldn’t even reach to grab the guy to take the foul,’’ Woodson said.
“We all knew we had a foul to give, but we didn’t and I have to take the timeout.’’
The Knicks had rallied from 15 points down in the third quarter and seven points down midway through the fourth. But they sputtered again to fall to 7-17.
“I thought we did everything right to give ourselves a chance to win the game,’’ Anthony said. “It fell through. If [Woodson] said it’s his fault, it’s his fault. No reason to make excuses. But as players we have to be smart enough to know it as well. We knew we had a timeout.
We knew we had a foul to give and can’t leave it on Coach.”
Smith also defended Woodson, saying, “We have to do a better job as players. We knew we had three timeouts. We can’t put everything in Coach’s hands. We have to be better as players and be generals out there.”
Anthony had a big night, but his hesitancy on the final possession also underscored his lack of confidence in tight games. He has now made one of his last 17 shots on game-tying or game-winning shots in the game’s final 30 seconds.
He finished with 32 points and helped spearhead the comeback. Smith, three days removed from his one-shot Boston boycott fiasco, had a mini-revival with 18 points, banging in five 3-pointers with three steals and six assists in his best second half of the season.
Martell Webster finished with 30 points for the Wizards, unstoppable from deep (6-of-8 on 3s). John Wall finished with 20 after a 19-point first half and Beal ended up with 21.
“Guys are frustrated,’’ Iman Shumpert said. “You have to keep your head up and keep going.’’
It was a thriller in the final two minutes. Bargnani hit two free throws to give the Knicks a 100-97 lead with 1:04 left. Bargnani blocked a Wall drive, but Washington maintained possession and Beal hit a long 3-pointer with Bargnani in his face, tying the score with
45 seconds to go.
Udrih got a gift call on a drive but made just 1-of-2 free throws to put the Knicks up 101-100 with 24.2 seconds left before they found another way to lose.
“We are in a hole,’’ Anthony said. “There’s nothing we can do about that but keep climbing.’’