Magic 129, Knicks 121 (2OT): "This is basketball hell."

Man, they can't even lose right. In what has become a regular event this season, the Knicks didn't just squander an easy win, they squandered an easy loss, too. Because Carmelo Anthony poured in points, because Raymond Felton played one of his tidiest offensive games of the season, and because Pablo Prigioni and Tim Hardaway Jr. got threes aplenty to fall, the Knicks held comfortable leads well into the third quarter. 14 at one point, I think.

But the Magic had an excellent offensive game themselves-- yet another ultra-efficient performance for a bottom-dwelling offense opposing the Knicks-- and Victor Oladipo and friends were more than ready to pounce when the Knicks started kicking themselves in the asshole. Mike Woodson's decision to lean hard on poor defensive lineups (Hardaway and Amar'e Stoudemire defending pick-and-rolls together!) and completely ignore two-for-ones didn't help. By the time the Magic had a chance to end the game in regulation, I was hoping they'd just get it done and save the Knicks extra minutes of torture. But they blew a pretty easy finish, because they suck, because they're the Magic.

So instead of just rolling over and dying, the Knicks let themselves get strung along ten more minutes before they fell. Melo-- who nearly shot the Knicks into a third overtime-- cracked 50 minutes smack in the middle of a tightly packed road trip in which he's hardly ever rested. Tyson Chandler banged his knee. He also had a crucial reverse dunk negated because it caromed off his skull before passing fully through the net.

So yeah, the Knicks didn't just lose. They extended the game until they were as exhausted, beat up, and humiliated as possible, and only THEN did they lose. This is basketball hell, like 40yearsinthedesert said. 27 more games.