New York Knicks‘ Courtney Lee has been in the league a long time. If a rookie tries to show up his team, he’s going to have a problem with it.
- Memphis Grizzlies 101 (43-37)
- New York Knicks 88 (30-50)
- NBA, Final, Box Score
- FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee
Courtney Lee is frustrated. After missing the playoffs in each of the first five seasons of his career, the veteran shooting guard has gotten used to being in the postseason. The last three season’s of Lee’s career have ended in the playoffs and the 2016-17 season was supposed to end the same way.
Lee was not going to put up some rookie trying to show up his team during another blatant tank job from the Knicks. The veteran voiced his frustrations after the unexpected developments at the end of the loss to his former team.
Instead of dribbling out the clock the Grizzlies rookie point guard Wade Baldwin threw up a 41-foot buzzer-beater three to send Memphis over the 100 point mark. It meant the fans were eligible for a free chicken sandwich. What Baldwin could be chalked up to a foolish mistake by a young player, but that’s not how Lee saw it.
He charged after the rookie before being calmed down by his former Grizzlies teammates. The veteran still took some shots at Baldwin after the game.
Via Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News:
“By the time I got over there to that area he was already trying to get the crowd hyped and walking through the tunnel. Like nobody is getting hyped for you, bro,” Lee said. “You just shot the ball at the end because you wanted to score 100 points. Nobody is going to remember you or that shot.”
Notes: Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, and Derrick Rose sat out the defeat. New York wasn’t planning on being without their “big three” in April.
Key Stat
The Grizzlies outshot the Knicks from behind the three-point line 15 to 6. Memphis is only 14th in threes made per game this season with 9.4.
Key Player
Maurice Ndour‘s second start in three games went even better than his previous one. He posted an impressive stat line of 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
ESNY’s Robbie Stratakos wrote about the blunders of Knicks owner James Dolan. The billionaire got himself into more trouble with fans.
