THE KIDS ARE
Knicks’ youngsters work Magic as stars take seat
ORLANDO – It may be tank season, but Jeff Hornacek says he doesn’t want to sacrifice winning for development. And at least for one night, those two weren’t mutually exclusive.
The Knicks managed a victory Monday – albeit against the lowly Magic, 113-105 – with Derrick Rose and Kristaps Porzingis on the bench, and with Carmelo Anthony resting in the locker room with a sore knee. They did it with a lineup featuring Chasson Randle, the undrafted rookie who signed only last week, and who was on the floor for the entirety of the Knicks’ game-breaking run in the fourth quarter.
It was the first time since April of 2015 that the Knicks won without Anthony, snapping a 12-game losing streak.
Here’s all you needed to know about Monday’s win, and perhaps it also serves as an indication of the future: The Knicks were outscored by 23 points when Rose was on the floor; they outscored the Magic by 27 when Randle played.
The 24-year-old Stanford product was a late cut in preseason, but returned after the Knicks waived Brandon Jennings to free up a roster spot.
“We always thought when he becomes available we’re going to try to get him back somehow,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “He just knows how to play. He does the little things.”
Hornacek said he left Rose and Porzingis on the bench because he was rolling with group playing well – and actually playing defense.
“For those guys to be out, our other guys stepped up,” said Hornacek, adding that he thought about bringing Rose back in the game (he did play Porzingis for the final 3:30).
Afterward in the locker room, there remained some delusional talk of making a run to the playoffs. At 26-38 and sitting 12th in the Eastern Conference, the chances of catching No. 8 Detroit (31-32) are remote. Or, to quote Rose, “it’s getting slimmer and slimmer.” The realities of this season can get depressing.
“The only thing you can work on is the team for one, keeping everyone together, and individually finding things to make sure you’re sane and making sure you’re not going insane,” Rose said. “Reading, meditating, I watch a lot of documentaries. You got to try and distract yourself from what the reality is sometimes.”
For that reason, victories like Monday’s can be construed as negative, since they may cost the Knicks lottery Ping Pong balls. Players aren’t going to blow a game on purpose, but Monday had the appearances of an organizational tank job with Anthony sitting because of knee soreness and Hornacek pushing youth.
At one point, the coach had four rookies on the floor at the same time. But it wasn’t until he was forced to play Kyle O’Quinn that the Knicks took control of the game. O’Quinn, who has been in and out of the rotation, figured he was logging another DNP when teammate Willy Hernangomez fell to the floor because of a viscous elbow to the face from Orlando’s Bismack Biyombo. Soon after that substitution, the Knicks went on a 23-4 run to bury Orlando (23-41) for the second time in less than a week.
“After halftime (when I didn’t play), I was thinking, ‘I’ve been here before,’” O’Quinn said. “I was expecting a DNP. But the game flows, things happen. ..Then he called my name.
“I just didn’t want to go in there and play two minutes or three minutes. I wanted to do something to stay on the floor.”
O’Quinn finished with 11 points and eight rebounds in just 12 minutes. He was joined in the game-breaking lineup by Courtney Lee (20 points), Lance Thomas (17), Justin Holiday (10) and Randle (career-high 7 points).
“The fuel was burning sitting on the bench that whole time. I’m not going to lie and say I was cool with it,” O’Quinn said. “But coach made a coach decision. And we won, so I guess it was the right one.”