The Knicks looked lethargic for 47 minutes Wednesday night at the Garden, ready to concede what would be a one-sided 127-106 loss to the red-hot Grizzlies. Then Memphis forward Jae Crowder pulled a bush-league move and the Knicks finally showed the kind of fight that would have been nice to see earlier.
Let’s be clear. The Knicks should pay any fine and offer reimbursement for any loss of income that guard Elfrid Payton might receive for shoving Crowder in the final seconds of Wednesday night’s game. He deserved the retaliation. It was the equivalent of trying to steal second with an eight-run lead in the ninth. It was unprofessional.
The Grizzlies were leading by 18 points when Crowder stole an inbound pass and raced to the corner to attempt a 3-pointer … with 48 seconds left. An incensed Payton ran over and gave Crowder a hard shove that sent him sprawling near fans seated along the sideline. In an instant, there was pushing and shoving with players and coaches on the court. Crowder was ejected along with Payton and Marcus Morris of the Knicks.
The crowd reaction was telling. Instead of cheering Payton or booing the opposition, fans started chanting, “Sell the team! Sell the team!”
You can’t blame them. The final seconds of excitement couldn’t make up for the lackluster performance they had seen, especially in the second half when the home team was outscored 68-54.
Perhaps part of the fans’ frustration was knowing the Knicks don’t have a young talent like Ja Morant, Memphis’ rookie point guard who is already proving worthy of being selected second overall in the 2019 draft behind Zion Williamson.
Morant, 20, impressed during his Garden debut, recording 18 points and 10 assists. It was a silky effort that showcased his overall game. He was on the receiving and assisting end of several lob dunks and shot 7 of 13 from the field. His impact on the game was evident by his plus-42 stat line in 28 minutes of action.
Maybe that was part of the Knicks’ frustration in the near brawl, knowing that they were one pick away from getting a talent like Morant instead of RJ Barrett, the third-overall selection. Morant entered the game averaging 17.5 points per game and 7.1 assists on the season. He also stood his ground in the middle of skirmish, defending his teammates.
“I felt like it was just us competing,” Morant said of near brawl. “It’s over with. We got the win; on to the next.”
It’s easy to say that when you’ve won 11 of your last 13 games like the Grizzlies, who are now 24-24 on the season. In contrast to the Knicks, Memphis is a young team on the rise with a player like Morant to build around.
Like many other NBA players, Morant was shaken by Kobe Bryant’s death, but is inspired by his legacy and hoping to do similar things in his NBA career.
“I’ve got his autographed jersey,” Morant said. “I’m pretty sure every kid had a moment when you’re shooting something into a trash can and you yell, ‘Kobe!’ I grew up watching a lot of Kobe. I felt like he was invincible.”
Morant played like he was invincible against the Knicks, who were outscored 58-48 in the paint and committed 16 turnovers.
“We had some shots that didn’t go down and you have to play through those and keep finding ways to get stops,” Knicks interim coach Mike Miller said. “We didn’t get enough stops.”
The Knicks couldn’t stop Morant, the engine of the Memphis offense. Eventually, that frustrated the Knicks, who again frustrated their fans, who offered their own solution: “Sell the team.”
For more on the Kobe Bryant tragedy, listen to the latest episode of the “Big Apple Buckets” podcast: