DALLAS — A whistle saved the Knicks from an embarrassing defeat.
Mavericks guard Brandon Williams appeared to hit the game-tying bucket in the final seconds Wednesday, but he was called for hooking defender Landry Shamet and the Knicks escaped American Airlines Center on Wednesday with a 113-111 nailbiter.
“I give the referee credit. It was a hook. And a lot of people might not have called it down the stretch but it was the right call,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “And he definitely took [Shamet’s] left arm and I had a great view of it, and I’m glad the official did, and more importantly I’m glad he made the right call.”
OFFENSIVE FOUL SEALS THE GAME! Brandon Williams was called for an offensive foul for hooking Landry Shamet on what could have been a game-tying layup, or game-winning and-1! 😳🍿
New York beat Dallas, 113-111!
Did the refs get it right? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/kuzr9NnUmF
— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) November 20, 2025
So Shamet, in the end, became the unlikely hero.
Facing a terrible and undermanned Mavericks squad, the Knicks found themselves in a tight battle and requiring big buckets — with Shamet coming through.
The veteran guard, who has occupied a consistent starting role despite joining the team on a nonguaranteed contract, knocked down a pair of treys in the final 62 seconds, including the go-ahead shot with about 30 ticks remaining.
Still, Shamet and his teammates nearly blew it. He clanked two potential game-sealing free throws with 22 seconds left. Then Mitchell Robinson flubbed a pair from the foul line. And then Jalen Brunson, returning to the lineup, converted just 1 of 2.
It left the Knicks a disappointing 1 for 6 from the charity stripe in the final 30 seconds, providing Dallas life. The Mavericks nearly capitalized off the inbounds on their final play, with Williams streaking toward the basket and Shamet on his hip.
Guard Landry Shamet (44) is congratulated by teammate Josh Hart (3) during the Knicks’ 113-111 win over the Mavericks on Nov. 19, 2025 in Dallas. AP
Williams created space with the hook and connected on the tying lay up but didn’t count.
“I knew if he was calling something, it was an offensive foul,” Shamet said. “Did I think he was going to? Down the stretch, you guys know how the whistle is and sometimes it’s play through it, sometimes you get the call.”
So the Knicks (9-5) backed into an unimpressive win. But at least they pulled it out on the road, where they improved to 1-4.
Brunson dropped a game-high 28 points in his return from a two-game absence because of a sprained right ankle, an injury sustained in garbage time of a loss to the Magic. It’s safe to assume he wanted to play in Dallas, the place he called home for the first seasons of Brunson’s career. There was extra motivation.
After all, it wasn’t a clean break from Dallas. The Mavericks initially declined to offer Brunson a reasonable contract, then cried foul and tampering when Brunson didn’t give the Mavericks a chance to match New York’s offer in 2022.
More recently, Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban fed into a theory that Brunson’s contract circumvented the cap, similar to the alleged Kawhi Leonard and Clippers cap circumvention.
The Knicks were found guilty by the NBA of tampering with Brunson and gave up a second round pick, but there’s been no evidence of cap circumvention.
“I don’t know. I just think there were a lot of things at play there. You know, that’s behind me,” Cuban said on journalist Pablo Torre’s podcast. “More power to JB. More power to everything. Was I happy that they only got dinged for a second round pick? No. No, it should have been far worse, but it is what it is.”
Jalen Brunson reacts after hitting a 3-pointer as D’Angelo Russell (left) heads back up court during the first half of the Knicks’ win over the Mavericks. AP
The Mavericks, meanwhile, entered the evening in shambles. They recently fired the team president, Nico Harrison, less than a year after his disastrous Luka Doncic trade. They are injury-riddled with Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis shelved indefinitely, although Davis might return soon.
Even Cooper Flagg, their best reason to feel hopeful about the direction, was inactive Wednesday because of an illness.
It was unfortunate timing considering the Mavericks gave away Flagg posters at every seat. But the Mavericks hung around against the Knicks’ porous defense, which allowed the Mavericks to shoot 16 for 44 from deep. Naji Marshall and D’Angelo Russell each scored 23 for Dallas off the bench.
For the Knicks, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 18 points with 14 rebounds on just 6 of 16 shooting. Josh Hart had 16 points and 10 rebounds — including a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter.
But the Knicks couldn’t create space to be comfortable against an inferior opponent, and Mike Brown’s squad had help from Shamet and the referee to avoid what would have been their worst defeat of the season.
