Timberwolves 112, Knicks 110: Scenes from your heart getting ripped out of your chest

The New York Knicks faltered badly on offense in the final minutes, blowing the game to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 112-110. It sucked. I dumped a full cup of ice water on my head at the end of the game, just so I could feel something else.

It appeared the Knicks had the game in hand when a red-hot Kemba Walker hit three straight triples in the fourth, putting the Knicks up two possessions with only a few minutes remaining. But Kemba suddenly went cold. Evan Fournier, who had brought the Knicks back from a double-digit deficit in the third quarter, also went cold. RJ Barrett wasn’t particularly good throughout this game, and he turned the ball over on multiple positions. Both healthy rotation centers — Mitchell Robinson and Taj Gibson — fouled out.

With the crowd chanting for Obi Toppin, head coach Tom Thibodeau inserted Alec Burks into the game in order to go super-small. It didn’t work. Karl-Anthony Towns bullied past Julius Randle to get the and-one layup to put the Timberwolves up two with 24 seconds remaining. The refs, who sucked all night, called a phantom foul on Randle just as he kicked out to Burks for the go-ahead three (which he swished, naturally). As he has done in the clutch all season, Randle came up small at the line, missing the first free throw.

The Knicks caught a break when D’Angelo Russell missed one free throw. But the final possession was brutal. Fournier badly missed a runner, and Burks bricked a three off the offensive rebound. Ballgame.

No recap tonight, folks. Purge this game from your memories.