Hornacek: Noah, Lee will find their points
Joakim Noah and Courtney Lee made their Knicks debuts Tuesday and are still looking for their first points.
The two new starters — who signed contracts that have a combined value of $122 million — were 0-for-6 shooting in posting goose eggs in the scoring column. Noah had just one shot attempt, missing an inside hook.
“We’re not looking for Jo to go out there and make jump shots,’’ Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said. “He’s going to roll to the basket. Early, he was setting good screens and Derrick [Rose was] getting to the basket. He’ll get points off rolling and offensive rebounds. They did a good job keep him off the offensive boards. All the shots we missed, we should’ve had offensive rebounds.’’
Lee had a poor first four preseason games before f inding himself in the f inal two. But Lee, supposedly an upgrade over Arron Afflalo, was invisible in the opener.
“He’s a great shooter,’’ Hornacek said. “One of those games.’’
Kristaps Porzingis officially became an Adidas guy before Tuesday’ s Knick s’ season opener. Nike decided against matching the sneaker deal, which is worth about $4.5 million annually, the largest ever for a European player. Porzingis released a statement, saying, “I’m a unique player and Adidas is a unique brand. I’m just excited to join the family.
The 7-foot-3 Latvian had been wearing Adidas in practices but not for games as he waited to see if Nike would step up. Wearing the new kicks for the f irst time in a game Tuesday, Porzingis had an up-and-down outing.
He shot erratically and never gained his balance defensively. He started hitting from deep late — winding up 3 of 5 from the 3-point l i ne. For all the accolades of his rookie season, Porzingis shot just 42 percent from the field. He finished 5 of 13 against the Cavs.
Hornacek didn’ t play 27-year-old rookie small forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas until the third quarter and only after the Knicks fell behind by double-digits. As he did during the preseason, the Lithuanian showed his versatile scoring ability with nearly a point per minute. Kuzminskas racked up seven points in nine minutes, making 3 of 5 shots.