BOSTON — Ultimately, it’s looking as if Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni will pay the price for a thin roster not built in his speed-ball image, evidenced again last night.
The Knicks fell apart again late, blowing a 12-point second-half lead in a 91-89 heartbreaker loss to the Celtics at TD Garden as the noose tightens around D’Antoni.
There it was in the final seconds, one last symbolism with Steve Novak inserted into the game for the first time with 4.2 seconds left, taking the final shot on the final possession, trying to beat the Celtics.
After all the dizzying array of moves since November 2008, after D’Antoni has coached 56 Knicks players, this is their flawed roster when they take the ball out of Carmelo Anthony’s hands late in games.
According to NBA sources, D’Antoni will not be fired today despite back-to-back, last-second losses to Chicago and Boston, disputing a report earlier this week. But with the club at 8-15, his job security is in heavy question, and D’Antoni may not be able to afford losing to the Nets tonight in the last game of their back-to-back-to-back set.
”We had a great shot to win but we’re a little snakebitten right now,’’ D’Antoni said.
After Boston rallied in the fourth quarter, the Knicks still had a chance to pull it out in the final minute but they don’t have the perimeter guns to get the job done.
In the last 45 seconds, Iman Shumpert missed a wide open 3-pointer from the right wing and Landry Fields overshot an open corner three — both off feeds from a doubled Anthony, who finished with 26 points but didn’t score in the final 6:34.
“I’d make the play any day,’’ Anthony said. “They’re sending two, three guys. I want to take the shot, but I can’t if they’re coming. I’m passing to the open man. They had great shots, they missed them. I’ll make the same play tomorrow.’’
After the Shumpert and Fields misses, a desperate D’Antoni inserted 3-point specialist Novak with 4.4 seconds left and the Knicks down 91-89 on the last possession. Novak got it in the left corner — after Fields nearly did not inbound the pass in time — and fired an off-balance airball.
D’Antoni was in a noticeably somber mood before the game. Friday’s last-second 105-102 loss to the Bulls must have lowered his spirits, and perhaps the speculation about his job security is wearing him out. Or perhaps he knows having Amar’e Stoudemire take a big 3-pointer – which he missed Thursday — is not the recipe for a title.
“We had them on the ropes,’’ said Stoudemire, who scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. “It’s not a great feeling. Winning is always what you play the game for. And we’re not winning and it’s difficult to deal with.’’
Paul Pierce finished with 30 points and then was involved in the play of the night when his 3-pointer was nullified, which would have put the Knicks down 93-89 with 14 seconds left. Pierce had lost the ball, picked it up and fired it at the 3-point line at the shot-clock buzzer with the game clock reading 14.4 seconds left. The shot initially counted. That prompted a replay review to see if he got the shot off in time as replays appeared to show the shot-clock at zero. After a five-minute review, the points came off the board and the Knicks were down, 91-90.
With a chance to win, Fields got an open 3-pointer from the left corner but missed badly and overshot the basket. Pierce was fouled and made one of two free throws, with Stoudemire getting the rebound with 4.4 seconds left, setting up the final play that resulted in Novak’s airball.
“No doubt, I hope the coach looks to me in those situations,’’ Novak said. “On that possession, we were hoping to get the ball in Melo’s hands, but I think Landry must have seen that was the only option. I was glad Coach put me in the end. Whether I got it or not, I was on the court to spread the floor.’’
Ray Allen got hot late, firing in a right-wing trey to lift the Celtics to a 82-79 lead with 4:24 left, and D’Antoni was hit with a technical foul after the basket for screaming at referee Monty McCutchen. Stoudemire also got a technical and Anthony could be seen yelling at his mates to settle down.
“It’s the heat of the game on the road, but it’s something we don’t need,’’ Anthony said. “I was trying to keep everyone together. We don’t need that right now.’’
In the first half, D’Antoni elected to bench Toney Douglas as the backup point guard in favor of former Harvard standout Jeremy Lin. But Lin was ineffective and Douglas played in the second half. D’Antoni is trying anything until there is nothing left to try.