In one of the strangest endings to a game this season, the New York Knicks lost to the Chicago Bulls, 124-123, thanks to an ill-considered foul by Josh Hart on a Coby White go-ahead three with three seconds left. After White made all three free throws, Jalen Brunson still had a chance to win the game, but his mid-range shot from the baseline rolled all the way around the hoop before rimming out. Due to his role the loss, Josh Hart received trolling from the fans who couldn't believe his error.
Check out this replay of his late-game foul courtesy of Bricks Center on X, formerly Twitter. However, from the replay, some fans might think there was no contact, and the officials shouldn't have called anything.
The Knicks' crushing loss
Here's some reactions from the fans on Josh Hart's heartbreaking error that cost the Knicks the game against the Bulls.
First, @NBAMemes uploaded a reaction photo of Jalen Rose watching another blunder from Tuesday's Heat-Pistons game: Erik Spoelstra calling a timeout when he didn't have one, an uncharacteristic blunder that gave the Pistons the game-winning free throw.
(The PTSD from the Michigan Wolverines losing the 1993 National Championship to North Carolina due to Chris Webber calling the fatal timeout appeared on Rose‘s face.)
Meanwhile, another user @Eagles_Arthur referenced the Knicks guard's generosity in giving away free tickets to fans while trolling him for his foul.
“To [Josh Hart] instead of giving tickets to fat f**ks who play victim all the time work on ur off ball defense u dumbass,” the person commented.
Another fan account @RyB_311 echoed the previous commenter's sentiments.
“Josh Hart gave out courtside seats to everyone to see him sell the game LMFAO,” they said.
On the other hand, @StephNoh checked the replay and wondered whether there was even any contact at all, asking, “Did Josh Hart foul Coby White's hair?” However, the refs might have seen Hart's off-hand touching White's ball as he jumped to take the shot, hence the call.
Blame game
Whatever the case, Hart refused to blame the officials for the call.
“We lost the game because I fouled at the end,” he said, via Peter Botte of the New York Post. “There's no silver lining. There's no other excuse. I made an inexcusable mistake at the end of the game and it cost us the game. And now, there's nothing we can do about it.”
The Knicks had clawed back from a 22-point deficit late in the third quarter to take the lead, thanks to Jalen Brunson's go-ahead layup with 4.6 seconds left. However, the costly foul made the loss even more crushing.
New Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns also posted a season-high 46 points while Mikal Bridges contributed with 20.