The Fast Break: The 25 seconds that defined the Knicks season so far

In a season already filled with many losses that force those watching to wonder if Mike Woodson will still have a job 24 hours from that moment, last night's Knicks loss, at home to the Wizards, may just take the cake.

After Beno Udrih - a career 82.5 percent free throw shooter - split a pair of free throws, New York took a 101-100 lead into a Washington timeout with 24.2 seconds remaining.

What followed was 24 seconds of pathetic execution from both the Knicks players and Woodson. 

First up, Bradley Beal drives pretty much uncontested to the hoop for the go-ahead bucket with just 6.9 seconds to go:

Udrih, who was only in the game because Pablo Prigioni suffered a fractured toe literally tripping over his own feet earlier, has no chance of stopping a Bradley Beal drive, so he clearly wants help behind him. Unfortunately for the porous Udrih, Andrea Bargnani decides to follow Marcin Gortat all the way to the three-point line instead, and the other three Knicks on the floor are more understandably concerned with their covers on the perimeter.

Udrih was visibly upset with Bargnani's usual concept of help-D:

Yes, Beno Udrih even thought that was bad defense.

From there it only gets worse. Carmelo Anthony looks at the bench expecting a timeout to be called since the Knicks still had three to spare, but no such call comes, so Anthony instead has to take the ball the length of the floor (which he does slowly as if he's still expecting a timeout to be called at any moment) and hoist a shot all in under seven seconds. The shot comes up way short, and Bargnani barely makes an effort to get in position to rebound it or tap it back up, while Iman Shumpert at least comes flying through our screen in a desperate attempt:

In case you were wondering, yes, Udrih also took exception to Bargnani on this play as well:

And just like that, the Knicks lose again, falling to 7-17 on the season and 4-9 at Madison Square Garden. Injuries, questionable defense and some questionable effort all played a part on this night, as they have so many times before for New York, but the big difference this time is that Woodson deserves a fair share of the blame himself.

Coaches sometimes allow their teams to run out the play without calling a timeout in such scenarios, as it keeps the opposing team from setting its defense, but it's more common and makes more sense when your team either has much more time than 6.9 seconds to work with or perhaps if the game is tied. Did Woodson really believe that 6.9 seconds gave Anthony and his team enough time to not only run the length of the floor but to also get a good look with the game on the line? Did he actually think they would get a higher percentage shot than if he had used a timeout and the ball was advanced to half court?

If the team only had one timeout remaining and Woodson simply forgot he had one, it would still be an embarrassing error, but it would also at least partly fall on his staff for failing to recognize the situation themselves. In this event, Woodson had three timeouts remaining, so he definitely knew he had the option. He just made a horrible decision not to use one.

The Knicks' disastrous start has much more to do with an obviously flawed roster and Tyson Chandler's absence than it does with anything Woodson has done wrong, and even James Dolan seems to recognize that in keeping Woodson employed (and deciding against pulling the trigger on a fairly big deal) this long despite said start. But with Mike playing such an obvious role in the heartbreaking finish of the team's 17th loss in 24 games, he may finally have reached the end of his rope with an impatient owner.

With Prigioni expected to miss a couple of weeks and Raymond Felton already out, Udrih, Chris Smith and Toure Murry are the only healthy point guards on the roster, so it might also be time for Dolan to pull that trade trigger.

As Anthony himself says in that overplayed NBA commercial during League Pass timeouts...

(All video footage courtesy of MSG/NBA Game Time)

About last night...

Pistons 101, Pacers 96 - Detroit hands Indiana its first home loss of the season, as the Pacers fall to 11-1 at home.

Hawks 114, Lakers 100 - Kobe Bryant had just eight points on 4-of-14 shooting to go along with five more turnovers.

Celtics 101, Timberwolves 97 - The Celtics, now 12-14, continue to hold off the rest of the incompetent Atlantic Division in the standings.

Heat 117, Jazz 94 - Miami shot a franchise record 63.4 percent, outscored Utah 70-44 in the second half and LeBron James finished with 30 points (on 13/17 shooting), nine rebounds and nine assists despite tweaking his ankle.

Nets 130, 76ers 94 - The Knicks blowing it against the Wizards overshadowed their city rivals knocking down a franchise record 21 three-pointers in a rout of the Sixers, which included an NBA-record tying eight threes (and 29 points!) in one quarter for Joe Johnson:

Wizards 102, Knicks 101 - Martell Webster scored 30 points on 9-of-13 shooting off of the bench for Washington.

Magic 83, Bulls 82 - Chicago is 3-9 since losing Derrick Rose for the year, with losses to the Jazz, Cavs, Bucks and now Magic included in that stretch. Perhaps it's time they reconsidered their plan for the rest of this season.

Clippers 115, Spurs 92 - Chris Paul and Blake Griffin combined for 50 points on 16-of-27 shooting for the Clippers, while Tony Parker left the game in the third quarter for the Spurs with a leg injury.

Line of the night: Joe Johnson - 37 Pts (13/20 FG, 10/14 3PT, 1/1 FT), 7 Reb, 5 Ast, 1 Stl, 1 Blk in 30 mins.

Play of the night:

On tap tonight: Just five games are set for this evening, headlined by the Thunder traveling to Denver and the Pelicans at Golden State. An OKC win would see the Nuggets already surpass their entire home loss total from a season ago, while in the late matchup, it will be interesting to see if the Davis-less Pelicans can continue their surprising run of competitive play against the Warriors' relentless barrage.

Woodson owns up: Mike Woodson put the blame on himself for the decision not to call a timeout, and Carmelo Anthony didn't exactly argue it, saying "If he said it’s his fault, it’s his fault. There’s no need for me to talk about." Anthony also defended Woodson's job security, however. The only thing potentially saving Woodson right now is that Tyson Chandler is expected back this week, so Dolan could wait to see how the team responds to their defensive anchor's return.

Parker hurt: Tony Parker suffered a right shin contusion in San Antonio's loss to the Clippers, which doesn't sound that serious, but Gregg Popovich did say that Parker was having trouble walking on the leg, so stay tuned for word on how long the star point guard will be out, if he misses any time at all.

No deal for MJ's house: Michael Jordan put his 56,000 square foot Chicago house up for auction on Monday, but didn't receive a single bid for the property, which he wanted $21 million for. I believe this is what they call first world problems.