After that lonely road trip where the Spurs looked old and unlikely to challenge, the defending champs got their mojo back. They’d won seven of eight, Tony Parker looked spry, and the future looked bright. Sh*t happens, though. And last night it happened to the Spurs at Madison Square Garden. They lost to the tanking New York Knicks who played not only without Carmelo Anthony, but without Jose Calderon and Tim Hardaway, Jr., too. In other words, the Spurs lost to guys they’d never seen before.
Even overtime didn’t help, as the Knicks dropped the Spurs 104-100. Langston Galloway led the Knicks, along with Alexey Shved (21 points, 7 assists, 3 boards, 3 steals). Lou Amundson had 17 rebounds for New York. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, called it like this: “We didn’t respect the game. We didn’t respect our opponent. It was a pathetic performance. I hope that every player is embarrassed, not because we’re supposed to win the game, but it’s about how you play the game.” Manu Ginobili, whom Popovich once called the most aggressive player he’s ever seen, sat out with an ankle injury.
The full Pop… pic.twitter.com/8O2I5GOhU3
— Dan McCarney (@danmccarneySAEN) March 18, 2015
