SILVER LINING

referencing the more combative time in the NBA. Just this week the Pacers and Raptors nearly brawled because Lance Stephenson converted an unnecessary layup down the stretch of Indiana’s blowout win.

“You don’t do that. You saw what happened with Lance Stephenson and the Pacers,” Lee said. “I mean, everybody has seen that and for him to do that, it’s like what are you doing it for, bro?”

The mini controversy was a sideshow to New York clinching its third straight season with at least 50 losses, a predictable result considering the Knicks (30-50) trotted out a lineup without Carmelo Anthony (rest), Kristaps Porzingis (back), Derrick Rose (knee surgery) and Joakim Noah (drug suspension).

They also maintained the sixthworst record in the NBA and are 79165 under Phil Jackson. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said on Friday that the league is “not particularly concerned” over a verbal altercation between Knicks owner James Dolan and a season ticket holder outside Madison Square Garden.

“As a league we wish these incidents didn’t happen but we don’t want to put a microscope on every back and forth between a fan and an owner,” Silver said following the board of governors meetings in Manhattan. “I don’t think it would be fair to anyone.”

Dolan admitted to the website Deadspin that he called Mike Hamersky an “a--hole” after Hamersky, standing outside the Garden, yelled “sell the team, Jim.”

Silver believes Dolan has a lot in common with most Knick fans, saying they have “shared frustration.”

“I will say in terms of Jim Dolan that he is as frustrated as any Knicks fan about the current state of the Knicks, and being an owner in this league and being a successful one is an incredibly difficult position to be in,” Silver said.