Jose Calderon Hit Game-Winner in Kobe Bryant’s Final Game Against Knicks

Sunday marked the end of an era, it was the last time the New York Knicks will ever face the legendary “black mamba” Kobe Bryant.

Rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis unfortunately had to miss the game due to illness. Something Porzingis is sure to be bummed about, as he grew up idolizing Bryant.

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Bryant was very aggressive early on, but went 1-for-6 from the field in the opening quarter, only converting on a layup a couple of minutes into tip-off. The Los Angeles Lakers as a whole was dreadful from the field in the first quarter, shooting 15.8% from the field… It was not really even good defense by the Knicks either, it was just bad offense… Which is normal for the Lakers, as Los Angeles shot a league-worst 41.8% from the field as per NBA.com.

But as poorly as the Lakers played… the Knicks only led 18-11 after one quarter of play. New York played almost as poorly as the Lakers did in the first quarter… shooting only 35% from the field. It was a dreadful game to watch…

New York picked up their play in the second quarter, leading 46-35 at halftime with a mini 6-0 run to finish the half. Langston Galloway provided a huge boost off the bench, scoring eight of his total nine points in the second quarter.

New York grew their lead to as much as 16 points after going on a mini 7-2 out of halftime; 53-37. But the Knicks played awful for most of the third quarter, and by the middle of the final period New York had allowed the Lakers to come all the way back into the game…

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All the sudden a lackluster game that the Knicks were in control of, became a competitive back and forth game. The fourth quarter featured a couple of ties and four lead changes.

Los Angeles’ bench provided the comeback Sunday night, and Byron Scott allowed them to finish the game. The only starter to get minutes in the fourth quarter was Kobe. Lou Williams came up with huge clutch baskets for Los Angeles, scoring 11 of his total 15  points in the fourth quarter.

New York looked like they had blown the game, when Bryant hit a turnaround fadeaway jumper that gave the Lakers a 85-81 lead with 1:32 remaining in the game.

But Carmelo Anthony refused to let the Knicks lose to the 14-win Lakers, scoring a dozen points in the fourth quarter, including five straight points to take the lead back with 54.8 seconds left in the game; 86-85. Anthony collected his 22nd double-double of the season as he finished the game with 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists.

After a Lakers’ timeout, Williams would hit yet another clutch shot that put Los Angeles ahead 87-86 but the Knicks would tie the game up after Robin Lopez split a pair of free-throws. With 29 seconds remaining in the game, Bryant foolishly took an early shot, leaving 9.09 seconds on the clock for the Knicks to set up a shot.

Despite having so much time to set up the offense, for most of the clock, the Knicks were just stumbling their way to a play… Luckily Jose Calderon realized how little time was left and finally made a move, leading to a game-winning three-pointer! Calderon finished the game with 9 points and 6 assists, but made the biggest shot of the game.

New York won 90-87, as the Lakers could not take a shot with just .2 seconds remaining on the clock. Kobe finished the game with 14 points but needed 15 shot-attempts to do so. It was an exciting game, the Staple Center was really loud and into the game despite both team’s poor record.

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The Knicks will have a couple of days to rest, as their next game will not be until Wednesday night. But it will be a huge task at hand, as New York will take on the defending NBA Champions, the Golden State Warriors.