Langston Galloway
Mar 17, 2015; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks guard Langston Galloway (2) drives to the basket against San Antonio Spurs center Boris Diaw (33) during the first half at Madison Square Garden. REUTERS/Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich called his team’s effort an “embarrassment” after losing to the lowly New York Knicks, 104-100 in overtime. The Knicks entered the game as the worst team in basketball and left the game still with the worst record in the league at 14-53 but for a night this lottery-bound team can brag about dealing the defending NBA champions a rare road loss against a team with a losing record.

Langston Galloway had a career-high 22 points and young journeyman Alexey Shved had 21 points, 7 assists and 3 steals to lead the Knicks to their second victory in a week— a rarity in this regular season for the New York franchise. The Knicks also got a boost from Andrea Bargnani, who finished with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds plus 3 blocked shots and Lou Amundson, who also had a double-double of 12 points and 17 rebounds.

The Spurs played like the champs in the first half building a 29-to-25 lead after the first quarter and pushing the advantage to 52-42 at the halftime break. The Knicks hang around in the third quarter and eventually rallied to tie the game at 77-apiece with still under ten minutes to go in the payoff period. With 11 seconds to go, Shved found Lou Admundson for the easy two to force the extra period.

Tony Parker had 21 points and Tim Duncan had 17 points and 8 rebounds for the Spurs, which show only 38.3% from the field or 36-of-94 field goals. The team also missed 11-of-14 shots from behind the arc. The Spurs played like the worst team in basketball in the overtime period scoring just four points and also had key turnovers down the stretch. San Antonio has lost two of their last three games and both losses came in the extra period with their lone win coming up against another lottery-bound team, the Minnesota Timberwolves.

San Antonio dropped to 41-25 for the season and is now in seventh place in the Western Conference. They have a chance for a quick bounce back with games against the Timberwolves and the Philadelphia 76ers in their next two games.

To contact author of this article, email j.quizon@IBTimes.com.au

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