Andrea Bargnani‘s unnecessary overtime 3-pointer was incredibly dumb. Historically dumb. But, as they say, winning cures everything.
The fact that the Knicks managed to defeat the Bucks in the second overtime session Wednesday night turned Bargnani from the goat of all goats into a mere footnote in New York’s eighth win of the season.
The former No. 1 overall pick is still being roasted for doing his best Philip Seymour Hoffman-from-Along Came Polly impression rather than just holding the ball and letting the clock expire, but he knows the backlash could have been a lot worse.
“It was aggressive and it definitely was a mistake,’’ Bargnani told reporters after the game, according to the New York Post. “It’s a good thing we won the game and stayed together.”
Knicks center Tyson Chandler, playing in his first game in more than a month, was visibly upset after Milwaukee rebounded Bargnani’s shot and called timeout with 11.3 seconds to play. The miss forced New York to play another five minutes of basketball — Bucks forward John Henson scored to send the game into double overtime — but Chandler said after the win that all is forgiven.
“I told [Bargnani] don’t worry about it,’’ Chandler said. “That’s what you got teammates for. We’ll cover for you. We’ll get this win and all will be forgotten. It will be a good learning experience.”
The victory was the fifth in nine games for a Knicks team that began the season 3-13.
