NEW ORLEANS _ Reality comes quickly for rookies in the NBA. The leap from summer league glory to the grind of the real season _ and facing real NBA players every night _ provides a wake-up call of just how much they have to learn.
But Knicks first-year coach David Fizdale has little hesitation about playing his rookies, and with the team in a free fall of late, he tweaked the lineup and inserted all three of them into the starting five Friday night against the Pelicans.
If it showed something, it was that the trio has as little fear as their coach, helping build leads of 16 points in the first quarter (and as much as 19 points at 39-20 with 9:30 left in the second quarter). And as the lead faded down the stretch, Fizdale put all three rookies on the floor again. But this time they looked like, well, rookies.
The Knicks, after not leading in the previous 10 quarters, led the entire game until Julius Randle sank a pair of free throws with 2:33 left. From there, it was a tested group of veterans making every big play while the Knicks faltered down the stretch, dropping their fourth straight game, 129-124.
Perhaps the early lead was more surprising than the eventual fade. The Pelicans' fourth-quarter surge came with three consecutive turnovers by Tim Hardaway Jr., who led the Knicks with 30 points. The trio looked like rookies when trying to find a way to defend Anthony Davis, who had 43 points and 17 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday, who added 24 points and 10 assists.
No. 9 overall pick Kevin Knox made his first start in the previous game. Mitchell Robinson has been anchored in the starting lineup since the sixth game of the season despite being a second-round pick who didn't play at all last season (his last game before this season was with Chalmette High School, just a few miles from Smoothie King Center in New Orleans). Allonzo Trier went undrafted, joining the Knicks as a free agent with a two-way contract, and was plugged in Friday night for the first time other than an emergency start when Hardaway couldn't play.
So with three straight one-sided losses entering this game, Fizdale turned to the rookies, putting them in with Hardaway and Emmanuel Mudiay. The last time the Knicks started three rookies had been April 12, 2017, when Willy Hernangomez, Ron Baker and Maurice N'Dour got the assignment. Before that, it hadn't happened since Jan. 19, 2006, with Nate Robinson, David Lee and Channing Frye, and this was the earliest in the season that they did it since Patrick Ewing's rookie season.
Even Fizdale said he didn't see this coming 16 games into the season, but he added: "I didn't have a preset mindset, coming in where I was saying, 'I'm expecting this to happen.' I just wanted to keep an open mind to everything and see how it plays out.
"All of these guys to their credit have really shown some great moments in the NBA. So I figured why not look at them all together out there with Timmy and with our best passer and see how that looks if they're moving up and down the court fast."
"Great moments in the NBA" might be a bit of a stretch. Fizdale had Knox penciled in as a starter since the start of training camp, but he lost that job after struggling with his shot. He then sprained an ankle in his third game and had just worked his way back into action when he got the start in Wednesday's 25-point loss. Robinson blocked nine shots against the Magic last week but still is raw and has a rudimentary offensive game outside of finishing lobs to the rim. Trier has shown flashes of one-on-one offensive prowess.
Knox and Trier scored 11 points each and Robinson had seven points and seven rebounds. Trier played 32 minutes.
"Coach said he's going to play those who work hard and rookies who earn their spots," Knox said. "This is different from summer league, but we're trying to keep playing hard and keep doing what the coach wants us to do so he keeps us on the court as much as possible."
"It kind of means a lot," Robinson added. "When you get in there and put in hard work and you come out at the end, you get to start, that's actually great. We've got a lot of vets on the team, and for us to be rookies and just come in and start, it makes it kind of amazing."
The one thing the rookies don't have is a hesitation to step into the spotlight.
"I'm so naive to the situation," Trier said. "I'm just going to go out there and play hard and compete at a high level like I try to do every single night. My job is to go out here and play good basketball, try to help make winning plays for this team. That's what I'm going to do whether I'm starting or coming off the bench. That doesn't change my mindset or approach to the game."
