A fine mess
Morris to pay $35K, Payton to sit 1 game
The Knicks incurred the wrath of the NBA Thursday for being the Super Wrecks of Super Bowl Week.
Knicks point guard Elfrid Payton was suspended one game and Marcus Morris fined $35,000 for their roles in Wednesday’s brawl with the Grizzlies and for comments made afterward.
Payton’s sore-loser push on Jae Crowder after the Grizzlies forward took a 3-point shot with 48 seconds left in a blowout triggered a minibrawl and a “Sell the team’’ chant from fans at the Garden.
Morris was fined for escalating the brawl and making remarks afterward in which he said Crowder played “woman-like.’’ Crowder was also fined $25,000 for his role in the brawl, shoving Payton in retaliation.
Marko Guduric and Jaren Jackson Jr. were also suspended for leaving the Memphis bench.
A perfect storm of ineptitude that has lasted 20 years ransacked the Garden on Wednesday night, eliciting a 20-second “Sell the team’’ chant directed at owner James Dolan.
However, the l oud message may not disappear as easily. Dolan reacted in his trademark way, railing at security to eject a chanting 15-year-old fan, according to sources.
Payton said he had no regrets at the commotion he caused, adding, “[Crowder] knows better than that. And you know what come with that.’’ The NBA said Payton was also suspended for that “inappropriate’’ remark, though Morris’ Crowder rant went a lot further.
After the latest fiasco, interim Mike Miller admitted that his Knicks “lost our composure’’ at the end. But they looked like an undisciplined team all night.
But the night felt like culmination of the Knicks owning the NBA’s worst cumulative record the past 20 seasons, of having halting performances from their young prospects and a hazy future for star acquisitions.
The 127-106 blowout loss to Memphis and ensuing fracas seemed like a f inal-straw moment for the management team of Knicks GM Scott Perry and president Steve Mills.
Perry signed seven free agents, but many the wrong ones. On Wednesday, the Knicks were exposed as not just a marginally talented club but an immature and a reckless one too with Julius Randle and Morris trying to get at the Memphis players.
The Knicks’ next home game is not until Feb. 6 versus Orlando — the trading-deadline date that may be the reason Perry and Mills still have jobs today.
According to league sources, there’s a fear inside the Knicks front office that either Perry or Mills will be fired soon after the trade deadline.
Mills and Perry were not allowed to talk to the press after they fired David Fizdale in December and still have not chosen to speak on behalf of Miller, who now finds himself in an awkward spot.
The Knicks will take their 13-36 record on a two-game road trip to Indiana and Cleveland with a point-guard situation still at issue without Payton.
To likely showcase him for a trade, Dennis Smith Jr. recently vaulted ahead of Frank Ntilikina as the backup point guard. Ntilikina did not play Wednesday.
Afterward, Miller curiously claimed Ntilikina’s groin had acted up at game time and he was not available. However, Miller never mentioned Nilikina’s groin in the pregame press conference nor was the injury shared with the media at tipoff.
That was unfortunate because Garden fans chanted, “We want Frank’’ on two occasions, including once when Smith was on the court.
It’s best the Super Wrecks get out of town.