Allonzo Trier, on the offensive, wasn’t settling for just torching the Rockets.
The Knicks rookie had the best game of his career Wednesday in an otherwise demoralizing 114-110 loss to Houston at the Garden. But it wasn’t his 31 points (off the bench) on 12-of-18 shooting, to go along with 10 rebounds, that many fans were talking about, but his defense on the game-deciding, Eric Gordon 3-point shot with 9.8 seconds left.
Trier had the assignment as Gordon brought the ball across midcourt and crossed to use a James Harden screen at the 3-point line. Trier slipped underneath while Tim Hardaway Jr. stayed glued to Harden, fearful of the 61-point man.
With Trier out of position and Hardaway not switching, Gordon had all the time he wanted to nail the game-winner.
Pragmatic Knicks fans celebrated the loss, “improving” the Knicks to 10-36 as the race to the draft heats up. And one tagged him on Twitter, thanking him for not fighting over the pick.
Trier apparently noticed.
“It was supposed to be a switch dumb ass you think i just let n—a walk up and shoot a 3 smh y’all ‘fans’ don’t think,” the 23-year-old allegedly wrote in a direct message to that fan, who screengrabbed it.
Publicly, Trier was quieter, retweeting an account that celebrated his career game.