Williams no longer living day-to-day with Knicks

Opportunity knocked. And so far Troy Williams has answered.

Williams, a 6-foot-7 forward who has gone through the maximum two 10-day contracts with the Knicks after he was waived by the Rockets, has agreed to a deal for the remainder of this season with a partially guaranteed opportunity for next season, league sources confirmed. Coach Jeff Hornacek likes what the athletic Wil- liams has shown in eight games.

“He’s done a great job for us. We’ve talked about it, what he can add,” Hornacek said after practice Monday in Tarrytown. “He’s athletic, he runs. Defensively he’s all over the place. He can cover ground. Moving without the ball, he makes his spot-up 3. So yeah, he’s played well for us.”

In 13.9 minutes a game, Williams has averaged 8.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals for the Knicks. He has had three double-digit scor- ing games off the bench, including an 18-point effort in a road loss to the Bucks.

➤ Enes Kanter (back spasms) and Lance Thomas (sprained thumb), who both sat out Sunday’s wipeout loss to Toronto, are officially listed as questionable for Tuesday’s home game with Dallas. Both were hopeful of playing, but neither sounded certain.

“I feel okay. I went through the practice with just a little pain. Not much,” said Kanter, who added he was ready to go Sunday, but was yanked by the doctors. “It’s lower back. I got hit in Milwaukee and during the game I didn’t feel it much, but after the game it got really sore. I went through the warm-ups yesterday, but the doctor said, ‘I’m pulling you out.’ ”

Kanter did only halfcourt work Monday and said he still felt “a little sore and tight.” He admitted “I don’t want to miss out on the game,” but at the same time admitted he is questionable.

Thomas is another still feeling the aftereffects of injury. He originally hurt his right thumb in practice “about two weeks before All-Star [weekend] .” He taped it up after the break and played, but then banged it in Milwaukee, too.

“I hit it pretty hard in the game against Milwaukee. It was just throbbing. Really irritated,” said Thomas, who claimed “I hope so” when asked if he’ll play Tuesday. “We’ll see how they both do [Tuesday],” Hornacek said.

➤ Part of Kyle O’Quinn’s passing prowess was seen earlier this season in a special chemistry he had with Doug McDermott, who was part of the three-team trade that landed Emmanuel Mudiay. McDermott was sent to the Mavericks, Tuesday’s opponent.

“Kyle might throw him a backdoor pass when he’s on defense. That’s the crazy thing,” Courtney Lee said.