NEW YORK_Ninety minutes before game time, New York Knicks coach David Fizdale gave a passionate take on his task this season, reiterating what he has made clear from the day he arrived, that this is a developmental season for the Knicks.
And the centerpiece of that is the team's lottery pick, Kevin Knox. But in the first quarter on Saturday night, with the game already getting away from the Knicks, Knox went racing downcourt on a fast break, measuring up the Boston Celtics' Terry Rozier as the defender ran alongside him. As Knox tried to plant to rise up, drawing a foul, his left ankle turned and his foot twisted as he crumpled to the floor.
The Knicks' eventual 103-101 loss to the Celtics seemed far less important than the status of their prize rookie.
In the worst nightmare for the Knicks right now, Knox grabbed his leg in pain and had to be helped off the floor, carried to the locker room on the shoulders of Luke Kornet and a member of the team's training staff. Unable to remain on the floor to shoot the free throws, Knox was disqualified from the game, which seemed like the least of the problems. The immediate diagnosis was a left ankle sprain, with the Knicks reporting that X-rays were negative.
Knox had one point in four minutes Saturday after a solid effort in Brooklyn on Friday night in which he had 17 points and shot 7-for-14. The ninth overall selection in the 2018 NBA Draft, he has not started any of the first three games, but he did play the entire fourth quarter Friday.
At one point Friday, Fizdale already had sent a replacement to the scorer's table for Knox, but he changed his mind after Knox hit a tying three-pointer. Instead, he spent a timeout talking defense with the rookie.
"I know you guys saw me go off on him a little bit after giving up the three," Fizdale said. "It was not about giving up the three. It was when he came over as the low man to help and he didn't go up and challenge that shot. And I want him to think more like Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant is the leading shot-blocker in the NBA. Kevin Durant has turned into a monster defender and Kevin has some of those same attributes with that athleticism. So I just have to let him keep shooting, keep chipping away at that mentality of getting him to be a playmaker defensively."
Fizdale's point wasn't just about a rookie like Knox. Almost everything is a teaching moment for the Knicks this season, whether it is the trio of rookies on the roster or even Tim Hardaway Jr., who took the blame for Friday's loss on his shoulders.
Hardaway (24 points) drilled back-to-back three-point field goals in the fourth quarter Saturday, with the second one tying the score at 89 with 4:12 left. It set Hardaway off on a length-of-the-court celebration, screaming and gesturing while his father, who has been at all three games, stood and cheered.
Kyrie Irving hit two free throws to put the Celtics back in front, and his three-point play with 2:51 left extended Boston's lead to 96-89.
Jayson Tatum hit a jumper with 21.1 seconds left to give the Celtics a 101-98 lead. Trey Burke drove for a layup with 10.1 seconds left, but Tatum hit two free throws with 7.9 seconds to play. Burke fired up a desperation 35-footer with 1.9 seconds left and was fouled on the play by Tatum. He missed the first free throw and, after converting the second, intentionally missed the last shot, and the Celtics escaped with the rebound.
Allonzo Trier had 15 points off the bench for the Knicks.
