Kanter can’t play through back spasms

ATLANTA – If Enes Kanter played Friday night, the Knicks probably don’t lose to the woeful Hawks.

And nobody felt worse about this development than Kanter, who watched the 116-104 debacle unfold from the locker room as he dealt with back spasms.

“I’m just in the locker room crying like a little baby,” Kanter said. “It’s just tough man, especially games like this. If you’re thinking about the playoffs, you cannot lose. So if you’re looking for who to blame, you guys can blame me. I’ll take the blame tonight because I was just here like a little baby trying to get my back right. So it’s tough to see my teammates battling, fighting, in a war, and I’m just here like a crybaby. It’s tough, man. I cannot accept it. It’s not me.”

Kanter woke up with the pain Friday morning and was warned by Knicks doctors that playing would cause it to worsen – to the point that his recovery would require weeks. Kyle O’Quinn and Willy Hernangomez played ineffectively as his replacements at center, with the Knicks managing just five offensive rebounds against one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA.

Kanter declared himself a “game-time decision” for Saturday at Houston.

“Definitely (we missed Kanter),” Kristaps Porzingis said. “Enes gives us a lot of energy, a lot of second-chance points. For me I love playing with Enes. He’s such a physical guy in there. He always has everybody’s back. We missed him.”

For Hernangomez, in particular, it was a wasted opportunity to work himself back into the rotation. It was the first time all season that Hernangomez was the first backup following his demotion to the end of the bench.

He succumbed to early foul trouble and finished with six points in 19 minutes, with the Knicks being outscored by 10 when Hernangomez was on the floor.

O’Quinn, who logged his first start of the season, contributed two points in 23 minutes. The fourth center – Joakim Noah – stayed home with an illness.

“I’ve been working hard every day, I’ve been doing what they told me to do. So now I have this big chance for me,” Hernangomez said before tipoff.

Kanter said he’s dealt with back spasms previously but never to the level of Friday. He tried to jog around his hotel room before realizing the pain was too debilitating. But watching the loss was worse. “If it hurts, I can’t play (Saturday against the Rockets). But that’s why I say it’s a gametime decision,” Kanter said. “But this one made me feel so terrible to see my teammates battling and I’m sitting here like a baby. It’s just not me.”