The Knicks probably would have ended up happy either way.
Once in consideration to be taken by the Knicks with the fourth overall pick in the draft, used on Kristaps Porzingis, Heat forward Justise Winslow displayed the two-way skills that made the Duke swingman such an attractive rebuilding piece in Miami’s 97-78 win at the Garden on Friday night.
Playing 35 minutes, Winslow, picked at No. 10 by the Heat, finished with nine points and seven rebounds, but was most effective in helping silence Carmelo Anthony, who scored 11 points in the first quarter, but was held scoreless the rest of the game.
Anthony wasn’t ready to hand Winslow credit for his quiet night, but has been impressed with what he has seen in two games against the Heat this week.
“I always thought he was a tough guy,” Anthony said. “[He’s a] good defender, strong, can play multiple positions.”
Anthony, then asked about the success of Winslow and Porzingis and the rest of this season’s rookie class, was quick to point out how much things have changed since he, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh headlined the 2003 draft.
“It was different with us,” Anthony said. “We were given the organization as soon as we came in. We had to put the organization on our back. We had to respond right away. There wasn’t any leeway for us when we came in. We had to go from Day 1.”
The Knicks’ second unit broke out of a mini-slump, showcasing an expected spark. After scoring a total of 22 points in the previous two losses, Knicks reserves totaled 46 points Friday night, led by 10 points from Kevin Seraphin.
Rookie point guard Jerian Grant, who was benched in the second half of Wednesday’s loss in Orlando, finished with eight points, six assists and no turnovers.
“We know we’ve been playing bad,” Grant said. “We’ve been making the team struggle when we got in there so today we wanted to be aggressive and attack.”
Coach Derek Fisher hinted at shortening his use of a 12- and 13-man rotation heading into the weekend, but still used 11 players for the majority of the game, with Lou Amundson making a five-minute appearance at the end of the blowout. Sasha Vujacic did not play.
“It’s different than a year ago, so I like doing it this way more than how I felt last year,” Fisher said before the game. “I think it’s an advantage because it creates an environment where every guy will make sure he’s ready when his number’s called because so far guys have seen that each night it could be a different guy whose number is called.
Former Knick Amar’e Stoudemire (illness) was inactive for Miami, as was Luol Deng (hamstring).