Does 2004 use the old "clutch" rating? That would increase ratings in clutch situations, which used to lead to this sort of thing in the past, IIRC.
Anyhow, just last night I using the Knicks against a guy using the Magic. I trapped TMac a few steps outside of the 3-point arc with time winding down. The whole wiggling animation that happens when a trap is in place happens, but somehow the guy presses the shoot button and TMac tosses up the craziest shot... nothin' but net. Insane! My better half came home shortly after which necessitated leaving the screen for a minute and I came back to a "network" error. It's too bad because we had an awesome game going. At that point I wisely chose to quit rather than play vs. the CPU, and leave the computer for better things.

Anyway, I will remember that game for the insane three... made by a human opponent!