Trey Burke felt miserable for Kevin Knox and miserable for letting his teammates down with 1.9 seconds left in a 103-101 heartstopper of a loss vs. the Celtics’ juggernaut.
With the Knicks down 3, Burke inbounded he ball, it got deflected, he picked up the loose ball and launched a prayer that had no chance. But Celtics star Jayson Tatum foolishly ran into him after the release, bringing on three free throws with 1.9 seconds left.
Burke missed the first one, all but sealing the loss. He made the next and intentionally missed the third but the Knicks didn’t get the rebound.
“It’s very difficult,” Burke said. “My teammates did a great job of keeping my head up. As a point guard, I know I can knock those down in my sleep. Tonight I missed the first one. I have to live with that. I felt I let my teammates down. I know I can be better on that end of the court and will be.”
Burke, who finished with 11 points and nine assists, is a career 79 percent free-throw shooter.
Perhaps to take the heat off Burke’s botched free throw, Fizdale said he ruined the situation by calling “a stink play.” Burke said it was for Tim Hardaway Jr.
“Oh, I stunk that play up,” Fizdale said. “I drew up a crap play for them. Somehow we got three free throws, but I drew a crap play. It was terrible. That’s the first thing I said to the team. I own that. That was a bad play and I had two really good plays I could’ve looked at. It was the stink play.”
Tatum wasn’t upset at the call.
“I didn’t give him a chance to land,” Tatum said.
Before the game, Fizdale responded to his social-media critics who thought he should have put defensive specialist Frank Ntilikina on Nets guard Caris Levert on the final play that led to Friday’s game-winning layup with 1 second left Friday in Brooklyn. One of the twitter critics was former Phil Jackson adviser, Clarence Gaines Jr., who was not retained when his contract expired in July. Fizdale said Hardaway and Levert are former Michigan teammates, and pride was at stake.
“That’s why there was no way I was taking him off that kid on the last possession,” Fizdale said. “I’m trying to make Timmy into a complete basketball player. He needed to go through that and take that challenge. Hey, the kid scored, but he learned from it and he knows I believe in him as defender.”
Fizdale added he thought Hardaway would’ve been angered if he made the switch after he had guarded him all game.
“I might lose Timmy,” Fizdale said. “That could crush him.”
Rookie center Mitchell Robinson did not play at Brooklyn, something Fizdale regrets, but the rookie got 9:25 of action vs. Boston, even playing alongside fellow center Enes Kanter. Robinson recorded two rebounds and took the free throws after Knox went down. The Celtics had the choice.
Shooting guard Damyean Dotson has sat the first two games. The Knicks will have to cut a player in December to make room for Trier, who is on a two-way G-League contract. Dotson was drafted by the Phil Jackson/Clarence Gaines Jr. brain trust. Steve Mills was the general manager, but it’s become clear he had little say.
Frank Ntilikina continues to impress David Fizdale with all the subtle defensive things he does. Ntilikina scored just nine points Friday — all in the second half — but posted a second straight game of three steals.
“Frank keeps giving me multiple things,” Fizdale said. “We needed some scoring, we needed a spark. He gave it to us there. Frank is our guy that does a lot of different stuff for us.”
Kyrie Irving was to face Knicks fans for the first time since reports went out of control that he potentially would land here. However, Irving’s latest schtick is telling a Boston fanfest he plans to re-sign with the Celtics. A website reported Irving has told Celtics brass the same. At a recent Boston function, Irving kept going: “I didn’t say that to appease you guys. I actually love Boston.
“You think, ‘What about a new location?’ and it’s just like, ‘I want to be comfortable,’ and what’s better than being in Boston? This year has felt much different because of the environment that has been created for me and by me and going to the new practice facility. There’s nothing like playing at TD Garden.”
Irving can’t commit to Boston until July 1 — in 8½ months.
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