It was late in the fourth quarter.
The Knicks were losing badly. As usual.
The Madison Square Garden crowd was cheering for the Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony.
By the time Denver’s J.R. Smith drove in to finish off another fast break, the Knicks had had enough. It was time to thug it up. Hard.
Mardy Collins figured he’d put a stop to the fun with a hard foul. Instead, it was the start of a wild brawl - the last thing the NBA needs two years after the epic Pistons-Pacers melee in Detroit, and the last thing the Knicks need in a season already spiraling downward.
The Saturday night fight went from one end of the court to the other. The Nuggets’ Carmelo Anthony dropped Collins with a punch. Both Smith and Nate Robinson went flying into the stands while fighting, and six other players were ejected.
Anthony, the NBA’s leading scorer, could be looking at a suspension of more than five games. The NBA was reviewing the incident and interviewing people involved Sunday. It could announce penalties Monday, since both teams play that night.
Combined with Terrell Owens spitting in the face of an Atlanta defender, it was a banner night for pro sports. What caused the New York-Denver meltdown? To make a long story short, the Knicks felt dissed.
“The score period, and the guys that they had in,” Robinson said.
Anthony, Camby, Smith and fellow starter Andre Miller were all still on the floor with Denver leading by 19 with 1:15 to play when Collins prevented Smith from another easy basket by grabbing him by the neck (pictured) and taking him to the floor.
Smith rose and immediately started jawing with Collins, and Robinson jumped in to pull Smith away. Anthony shoved Robinson away, and Robinson and Smith then tumbled into the front row while fighting.
Then, right as things appeared to be calming down, Anthony threw a hard punch that floored Collins. New York’s Jared Jeffries sprinted from the baseline toward halfcourt in an effort to get at Anthony, but was tackled by a Denver player before he could get there.
By the time security had finally contained Smith, they were nearly at the opposite end of the court from where the altercation started, making it the NBA’s scariest scene since the brawl at Auburn Hills, Mich., between Pacers players and Pistons fans two years ago.
“Without being there, I can tell you the power of emotions can be an underrated thing in our game,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “Something like this should not happen, and when it does, it’s disappointing. But unless you’re there and a part of it and know all the dynamics of it, it’s really hard to comment on it.”
Somewhere, Ron Artest is smiling. Probably Sacramento.
Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, who took over for Larry Brown after one season, said he even told Anthony that he and Camby shouldn’t have been in the game at that point. Nuggets coach George Karl had just dispatched three players to the scorer’s table to check in while the Knicks brought the ball up the floor. Before play stopped so they could check in, New York turned it over, starting Smith’s fast break.
Two minutes earlier, Smith had thrown down a reverse dunk on the break, as both he and Anthony seemed trying to impress their group of fans.
The Knicks weren’t enjoying the show.
Robinson said the Knicks were “just trying to fight, come back from the deficit and they got their star players still in. It’s a slap in the face to us as a franchise.”
It’s certainly not the first time.
The Knicks have been routinely booed while compiling an awful 4-10 record at MSG. Moreover, they were in the midst of their second straight savage beating (pun intended). Collins committed a flagrant foul at the tail end of a 112-96 loss at Indiana Friday. The final score Saturday was 123-100. Denver.
The NBA has taken numerous steps to clean up its image after the fiasco in Detroit, implementing a dress code and its community relations initiative NBA Cares last season, and trying to eliminate excessive complaints to officials this season. Commissioner David Stern even implored NBA players to leave their guns at home!
One Sports Truth staff member believes that as a result of this incident, the league should institute a height requirement, so people such as Nate Robinson no longer feel a need to prove they are “hard” and get into it with taller players. It’s a theory that hasn’t been explored much, even amid rumors that Sebastian Telfair may have been in on the capping of Fabolous earlier this fall.
Regardless, what does it say about the NBA when Anthony (below, left), its leading scorer and a guy appearing in league marketing campaigns, is involved in an incident sure to trigger more discussions about all that’s wrong with it? We’ll find out as the suspensions are handed out this week and the fallout resonates for weeks to come.
