Bench strength bolsters Knicks
AS THE Knicks head west to finish up what’s billed as a make-or-break, seven-game road trip, coach Jeff Hornacek warned the media to slow its roll. Hornacek said a mouthful after the Knicks started their trip with a 119-104 Martin Luther King Day matinee win in Brooklyn. Hornacek indicated this season was still about developing young players first, playoffs second. Indeed, new team president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry made that clear in the summer. Hornacek’s reminder playoffs aren’t the end-all, be-all lends credence to the notion the Knicks will be sellers at the Feb. 8 trade deadline — especially if they flop out West. “We talked about it at the beginning of the season with our guys — ‘Look at what your goals are,’” Hornacek said. “We’re trying to get the best out of them and improve all year long. If playoffs come about, then fine. I think when you start — and that’s what happened to us — we got a couple of games over .500 there and all of a sudden everyone’s start- ing talking about, ‘We got a chance. If we just win, we’ll make the playoffs.’ “You don’t worry about that,’’ Hornacek added. “You try to do better each and every game, and the wins will pile up and then you’ll have a chance. We got to get back to the basics of what we talked about at the beginning of the year and how we approach it and see where it lands.” The Knicks are 20-24, three games out of the eighth slot in the Eastern Conference. Hornacek’s attempt at lowering expectations perhaps foreshadows possible moves at the trade deadline. The Knicks have a lot of veterans playing well who would look good in a playoff race. Swingman Courtney Lee (13.3 points per game) is having a career year, but is 32 and plays Tim Hardaway Jr.’s position. Michael Beasley has been reliably solid offensively and probably has earned a nice payday this summer. Undoubtedly, the Knicks will ease their ridiculous four-man center glut. By far, the likeliest center candidate to go at the deadline is Kyle O’Quinn, who has gotten feelers. He needs to go to open playing time for 23-year-old bedrock Willy Hernangomez. O’Quinn has been Enes Kanter’s reliable backup, but will opt out after the season, and the Knicks won’t pay him. Hornacek’s MLK Day statement was revealing, but would be more significant if it came from either Mills or Perry. Some fans believe the Knicks are better off entering the well-stocked lottery than the playoffs, even though the postseason is Kristaps Porzingis’ priority. The Post has reported one layer to management wanting a playoff race is for Porzingis’ benefit, sensing the 7-foot-3 Latvian would want to be here longterm if he feels part of a winning team this season. Porzingis can sign his rookie contract extension this summer. It’s more prudent to wait until he’s a restricted free agent in 2019. Mills hasn’t spoken to the club’s beat writers since before the season’s fourth game. Perry hasn’t talked since Dec. 9 in Chicago. Although both are extremely friendly to the media — unlike the antisocial Phil Jackson — the duo should clarify the team’s priorities to loyal Knicks fans who have followed a club that has missed the playoffs four straight years.
The Knicks’ bench has earned some praise.
In the past eight games, Knicks subs have outscored the opposition by more than 100 points — 358 to 248, or 44.75 to 31.0 points per game.
“Our starters play a lot of minutes,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “Any time we can get where we can keep our bench in there and play some big minutes, hey, that’s great for us.”
And it will be great on the upcoming road trek. After formally beginning a seven-game road trip at Barclays Center on Monday, the Knicks head to Memphis on Wednesday before moving on to face the Jazz, the Lakers, the Warriors, the Nuggets and the Suns.
“We need a lot of guys,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “We got to stay fresh on the road.”
Frank Ntilikina collected his first doubledouble when he put up 10 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds against the Nets on Monday. The rookie point guard still sees a lot of room for improvement, and is focusing on one area: scoring.
Michael Beasley had made the most of his minutes. After Tim Hardaway Jr. went down with a leg injury in late November, Beasley played in 22 games and averaged 16.0 points. In 14 of those, Beasley played 20 or more minutes, averaging 20.6 points.