Knicks Return to Scene Of Officiating Crime

The New York Knicks' last visit to Houston went awry thanks to a controversial call.

Feb 12, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) reacts after the end of the game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Heading into a Monday night matchup with the Houston Rockets (8:45 p.m. ET, MSG), the New York Knicks have their hands full.

Facing a Houston group attempting to end a four-year playoff drought, the Knicks will have to deal with blistering starts from Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun. Some, however, will be on the lookout for those wearing black-and-white rather than red.

“Do we know if Jacyn Goble [is] officiating?” Josh Hart jokingly asked as the Knicks prepped on Sunday, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.

Feb 12, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) reacts after a call during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Goble will indeed attend a game involving a New York team on Monday night, as he'll be the crew chief in Brooklyn for the local Nets' interconference tilt against the Memphis Grizzlies. That denies him a return to the scene of an officiating crime perpetrated last winter.

Goble was on the whistle for the Knicks seasonal visit to Houston last February and went down in relative infamy when he called Jalen Brunson for a late foul on Aaron Holiday's would-be game-winner in the midst of a tie game. Holiday hit two of the three awarded free throws before intentionally missing the last so as to run out the clock on a 105-103 victory.

In the aftermath, the night's crew chief Ed Molloy stated the foul was incorrectly charged and the ensuing Last 2 Minute report from the further supported the Knicks' complaints. The league, however, denied a New York protest into the game, which could've given them an opportunity to played the denied overtime period.

The reminder of last season's silliness allowed the Knicks to comment on the perception of how Brunson is managed in the game by officials. Well-regarded for his ability to both shoot from deep and infiltrate the paint, Brunson leads the league in drives but is averaging only 5.2 free throws per game, as noted by Bondy in his report.

"The thing that he has the ability to do, probably as well as anyone in the league, is put players at a disadvantage," Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, a frequent lobbier for more calls in Brunson's favor. "Now, it’s on them to recover from that. If you’re looking at body position and you’re looking at attacking the basket, you would know those are fouls."

In Brunson's defense, he's not the only Knick struggling to get to the line: entering Monday night action, the Knicks rank 29th in free throw tries per game (18.6) but they're also allowing the fewest visits to the charity stripe at 16.6.

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