It sure looked to me like the ball passed over the backboard. If this was a game played under NF rules, the ball would be ruled OOB and the shot would not count. NF rule 7-2-note states "When the rectangular backboard is used, the ball is out of bounds if it passes over the backboard."
It makes no distinction whether the ball goes from front to back or back to front.
Here is NBA rule 8-II-b: "Any ball that rebounds or passes behind the backboard, in either direction, from any point is considered out-of-bounds."
Since the ball passed behind the backboard (the word "pass" here is not used in the context of pass vs. shot, but means "moves"), it would appear that the shot should have been waived off and the ball given OOB to the Knicks.
In defense of the officials, I think it would have been almost impossible to have seen for sure that the ball did that, and that it did not simply go in from the side.
[This message has been edited by Mark Padgett (edited May 15, 2000).]
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