The Knicks seemed to have let a win against the lowly Pistons slip away in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter on Monday night after Donte DiVincenzo’s pass was intercepted by Ausar Thompson with New York trailing by one.
Instead, as Thompson tried to gain possession, DiVincenzo dove in towards the ball, took out Thompson, and got possession back for the Knicks, who found Josh Hart at the rim for a game-winning bucket with less than three seconds to go in the game.
Detroit head coach Monty Williams was livid, and his tantrum continued postgame, when he sat down for his press conference and blasted the officials for not calling a foul on DiVincenzo.
“Where's the New York media now?” Williams began as he sat down. “The absolute worst call of the season. No call. Enough's enough. We've done it the right way. We've called the league, we've sent in clips, we're sick of hearing the same stuff over and over again. We had a chance to win the game, and the guy dove into Ausar's legs and there was a no call. That an abomination.
“You cannot miss that in an NBA game. Period. And I’m tired of talking about it. I’m tired of our guys asking me ‘What more can we do coach?’ That situation is Exhibit A to what we’ve been dealing with all season long. And enough's enough. You cannot dive into a guy's legs in a big-time game like that and there be a no call. It’s ridiculous and we’re tired of it. We just want a fair game called. Period. And I got nothing else to say. We want a fair game. And that was not fair. I'm done.”
With that, Williams got right back up and exited the interview room, still irate with the outcome of the game after his group had fought back to take the lead.