Rookie gets highlight play but not the win

CLEVELAND — Kevin Knox rocked the city that houses the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Despite a tough-to-swallow, 113-106 loss to the moribund Cavaliers, many Knicks fans will most remember Knox’s emphatic fast break, righthanded dunk over Matthew Dellavedova with 32.5 seconds left that put the Knicks up one point. They couldn’t hold onto the lead, but that won’t erase the memory of the highlight maneuver after which the mild-mannered 19-year-old did a little celebratory shimmy.

“We fought really hard to come back,’’ said Knox, who wound up with 19 points. “At that moment emotionally, it was fun. I was excited. We went up one. We wound up losing, but that was a fun moment — probably one of my best with teammates cheering me and coaches were happy and hyped.”

Emmanuel Mudiay made it happen by exploding downcourt after picking up a loose ball and bouncing a pass to the high-flying Knox.

“That was an incredible dunk,’’ Mudiay said. “I loved the way he went up there and did it aggressively. It was a big bucket but unfortunately we lost. We’ve been getting on him about going up there strong. He’s got the wingspan and size to go up there and dunk it.’’

In the midst of a fourgame losing streak, Knicks coach David Fizdale decided it was time to throw him back into the starting lineup at small forward over offensively struggling Mario Hezonja.

It just might be the Knox breakthrough fans have been waiting for. Who knows if this is the start of a 10-year run as starting small forward for the 6-foot-9 Kentucky product. Knox, 19, had started just three games this season, all at power forward.

“I felt comfortable out there,’’ Knox said. “Even though we had a bad first quarter defensively [giving up 39 points], our offense was comfortable. I was comfortable with the starting five. We got to do a better job defensively but offensively we were fluid.’’

Knox’s defense hardly was golden early in the game but his 7-of-15 shooting line — 3-of-6 on 3-pointers made up for it.

“Why the hell not?’’ Fizdale said Wednesday night before tipoff when asked why he made the decision to start the rookie. “He’s playing good basketball. The 3 is good position for him. We tried him at the 4 but the physical nature of the position, I wanted him to know how to handle that. It was the right time.’’

Hezonja had started 11 straight games, and though Fizdale has praised his defensive grit, Hezonja was averaging a lame 5.4 points in those starts. Hezonja picked up 10:50 off the bench and was 1-of-3.

“I’m really happy the way he’s growing,’’ Fizdale said.