Mavericks fall to Knicks after Brandon Williams’ wild layup is waved away for controversial foul call
Brandon Williams thought he forced overtime Wednesday night. But a late and questionable offensive foul said otherwise.
The Mavericks guard drove the length of the court and somehow managed to get around Knicks guard Landry Shamet and sink a wild layup at the American Airlines Center with 0.7 seconds left on the clock. This would have put the Dallas Mavericks on a line with the New York Knicks and likely forced overtime.
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But Williams, despite seemingly getting around Shamet cleanly, was called for an offensive foul. That negated his layup and ended up giving the Knicks the 113-111 victory. Williams and the Mavericks were completely stunned.
The Knicks had several chances to hold off the Mavericks in the fourth quarter, but struggled repeatedly at the free throw line. They made just one of six free throws in the final 22 seconds of the game, and P.J. Washington then made a pair of free throws with about six seconds left to bring the Mavericks back to within a single point. Jalen Brunson split his free throws following a quick foul, which gave New York a two-point lead and gave Dallas the opportunity to tie the game with a layup rather than a 3-pointer.
“Great execution, great catch, great pass [Dereck Lively]”Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said after the game. “And then for him to catch it and find B-Will on the run was a great execution, a tough call.”
Brunson led the Knicks with 28 points in his return from an ankle injury, which kept him out for a week. That night he shot 11-of-23 from the field and dished out five assists. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Josh Hart added 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
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The Knicks improved to 9-5 this year with the win, their second in their last three games. They will face the Orlando Magic on Saturday in the second of a five-game road trip.
D’Angelo Russell had 23 points and seven assists to lead the Mavericks, who were playing without Cooper Flagg for the first time since selecting him with the first overall pick in the draft last summer. Flagg was ruled out for Wednesday’s game due to illness. Naji Marshall added 23 points off the bench for Dallas. Williams had nine points and shot just 2-11 from the field.
The Mavericks fell to 4-12 on the season with the loss, which marked their fifth in a span of six games. Four of those five losses were by single digits. They host the New Orleans Pelicans next Friday.