Grizzlies 118, Knicks 114: Scenes from an important reminder that the Knicks suck in fourth quarters

Did you forget that the New York Knicks absolutely suck ass in clutch situations? It was easy to ride the wave of ecstasy that was their three-game winning streak. But reality came crashing down on this club Friday night in Memphis, as they blew a 13-point second-half lead en route to a dispiriting 118-114 loss.

The Knicks trailed at halftime, but put together a stirring third-quarter run to open up a double-digit lead. The good guys were defending hard and getting out in transition. It was a joy to watch. And you can be excused from falling into the same old trap: that maybe these Knicks were different.

But Tom Thibodeau is still running the show. And when the going gets tough, Thibs gets stupid. He quickly abandoned the Immanuel Quickley/Miles McBride backcourt that had played so well of late. He brought in Alec Burks — nothing wrong with that, as Burks was playing really well — but then he slowed the offense down to a crawl, put the ball back into Burks’ hands and said, “Win us the game, Kobe!”

Sadly, Alec Burks is not Kobe. He actually did get one wild-ass layup to fall, but that was about that. The Knicks scored 18 points in the fourth, and maybe six of those points were scored after the game had been decided. Same as it ever was.

No recap this weekend. If you missed this game, you don’t wanna know. The Knicks play at Brooklyn Sunday. See you then!