KNOX ON WOOD!

Knicks hope for best with Kevin’s ankle sprain after coming up just short vs. Celtics

X-rays on Kevin Knox’s ankle come back negative, but the prized rookie does not return as Knicks lose last-second heartbreaker to Boston.

The Knicks lost their prized rookie and David Fizdale blew an opportunity in another heartbreaker. Kevin Knox left in the first quarter of the 103-101 loss to the Celtics, turning his ankle to such a discerning angle that Fizdale “had a real bad feeling in my gut when he went down.”

The diagnosis was somewhat reassuring – a left ankle sprain with negative Xrays – but the recovery timeline is reportedly 2-to-4 weeks.

“Where my angle was at I could see the thing basically hit the floor, roll to the floor. I knew right away when he stayed down that it was a good one,” Fizdale said. “I feel for the kid. Obviously he’s had his fair share of adversity already.”

After their ninth overall pick was helped off the court Saturday, the Knicks recovered to sur- prisingly push the Celtics to the brink.

They were down three with 10 seconds remaining when Fizdale drew up a play out of a timeout. It was spoiled immediately when Trey Burke’s inbounds pass bounced off a defender, but the Knicks guard recovered the ball himself in the backcourt.

Burke quickly launched an ill-advised 3pointer. He was fouled on the shot by Boston’s Jayson

Tatum, but Burke missed the first free throw and a second-straight Knicks loss was sealed.

Burke was responsible for the failed inbounds pass and the missed free throw, but Fizdale shouldered the blame for the debacle.

“I stunk that play up. I drew up a crap play for him. But somehow we got three free throws out of it,” Fizdale said. “That’s just what I was expecting. But I drew a crap play. It was terrible. That was the first thing I said to the team. I’m like, ‘I own that. That was a bad play.’ And I had two really nice plays I wanted to look at. So I own that one, yeah. That’s what was the play I drew up – the stink play.”

The defeat followed Friday night’s loss in Brooklyn, when the Nets’ Caris LeVert hit a game-winner with one second left.

“As a point guard, I know I can (hit those foul shots) in my sleep,” Burke said. “But I missed the first one. I have to live with that, and I feel like I let my teammates down.

“I know I can be better on that end of the court, and I will be.”

The Knicks got big contributions from Allonzo Trier (15 points) and Tim Hardaway Jr. (23 points, 8-for-21 shooting). Enes Kanter fouled out late after collecting 17 points with 15 boards, becoming the first Knick to notch three straight doubledoubles to start the season since Zach Randolph in 2007.

But Tatum emerged as the hero for Boston – at least before his boneheaded foul — securing the best Garden moment of his young career by hitting a turnaround jumper over Hardaway with 21 seconds left to give the Celtics a 3-point advantage.

Tatum finished with 24 points.

Knox, who was trying to plant his left foot when he was injured, was fouled on the play with one minute left in the first quarter but was unable to shoot free throws, automatically disqualifying him from the game.

Knox lost his starting spot by struggling in preseason but played well in Friday’s loss to the Nets, scoring 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting in 28 minutes. He managed just four minutes and one point Saturday before getting hurt.

“I said (to Knox), ‘Welcome to the NBA.’ You play like crap, you play great and then you get hurt,” Fizdale said. “That’s the roller coaster of our league. And so this is good for him. He’s going to learn from this. He’s going to grow from this and come back stronger and better.”