After using a dizzying dribble to split two New York Knicks defenders near the three-point line, John Wall charged straight into the paint, where Jason Smith, a player who happens to be 2.13m tall, stood waiting.
So, the 1.93m Wall did what any hyper-athletic, super-talented point guard would do: He sprung off his feet, bounced off Smith’s body, spun counterclockwise like an Olympic figure skater, switched the ball from his left hand to his right and twirled in a layup off the glass.
The moment of physical artistry, which came late in the third quarter, highlighted a mesmerizing performance from Wall, who led the Washington Wizards to a 102-91 victory over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Thursday afternoon.
Photo: USA Today
“It’s something I practice all the time, so it’s pretty fun,” Wall said with a laugh when asked about the move. “I was happy to pull it off in the Garden. It can’t get no better.”
Wall, who had 24 points and 11 assists, shined in a nationally televised game and made the Garden his playground, eliciting murmurs from the sellout crowd and stupefying the Knicks, who fell to 5-26, the most losses in the league.
Frustration seemed to boil over midway through the fourth quarter, with the Wizards ahead by 11, when Knicks forward Quincy Acy delivered a hard foul on Wall, striking him with both arms near the neck.
Wall, who had stumbled to the floor, popped up and shoved Acy in the chest. In retaliation, Acy swung his fist near Wall’s head, but missed. The two were separated and, after the officials reviewed the altercation for several minutes, Acy was ejected.
Acy may receive further punishment if league officials decide he was trying to punch Wall.
“It was just a foul, like if somebody has a fast break and you step up in front of them and grab them — it’s the same concept,” Acy said. “I didn’t throw a punch. I got up and reacted and just grabbed him.”
Wall said he was not sure if Acy threw a punch, because he ducked as soon as he delivered his push.
“Like we always say, if you don’t like physicality, then go play golf,” said Washington’s Paul Pierce, who shot one for five and scored three points.
The altercation was the one blemish on Wall’s game as he helped the exciting and ascendant Wizards improve to 20-8. All game, he displayed his growing offensive arsenal, including some apparently new nifty post-up moves.
He had nine points and six assists after just one quarter — the Knicks had seven assists at halftime.
He scored the final basket of the first half with a searing left-handed drive through the Knicks’ defense and a swooping right-handed scoop shot at the rim.
“His speed causes problems for every team he plays against,” said Knicks coach Derek Fisher, adding that Wall’s performance did not transcend his normal output.
The Wizards, Fisher said, were thoroughly superior: “It’s a team game. Their team was better than us today.”
Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 34 points in a game-high 43 minutes on the court.
In all, the Knicks allowed the Wizards to shoot 51.2 percent from the field and go seven-for-16 from three-point range. The Knicks, on the other hand, shot just 45 percent from the field and made four of 22 three-point attempts. The Wizards won the rebounding battle, 45-36.
When it was over, the Knicks were booed off the court.
The last time the two franchises met on Christmas Day was in 1973, when the Wizards were called the Capital Bullets. Phil Jackson scored eight points for the Knicks that day in a losing effort. Jackson, now the Knicks’ president, watched on Thursday as the Knicks lost their sixth consecutive game.
The defeat was also the team’s eighth consecutive at home — a franchise record for a single season.
The Knicks now have a tough three-game trip, beginning today, that will pit them against the Sacramento Kings, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Knicks have tried to remain calm about their horrific start, keeping the focus on the bigger picture and what they are doing to improve.
However, Anthony said he empathized with the team’s die-hard fans.
“The fans are dying, we’re dying,” he said. “We’re out there not producing. We didn’t expect, I didn’t expect, to be sitting at 5-26. As much as I feel for the fans, I feel for us going through it, too.”
“I don’t expect nobody to feel sorry for us. I don’t expect nobody to feel sorry for me, but I feel what the fans are feeling,” Anthony added.
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