PENNY HARDAWAY and Tim Thomas were screaming at each other and exchanging the kind of threats and language that usually result in someone winding up with a black eye and broken teeth.
The heated argument between the two Knicks came during a timeout with 5:56 left in the fourth quarter of last night’s 117-115 overtime win over the Lakers at the Garden.
It took several players and a couple of coaches to make sure blows weren’t exchanged and to separate Hardaway and Thomas, who were smoldering with anger and intensity. This was a good thing.
It was a glimpse of the energy and passion that has engulfed the Knicks of late, the kind of determination that had been missing until the recent trades that added Malik Rose and Maurice Taylor to a team in need of a new spirit.
Debate all you want about the cap ramifications and whether the added first-round picks will help build the Knicks into a contender. The current reality is they are 3-0 since the trades and playing with a fire so hot it nearly bubbled over into a near brawl between teammates.
In the end Hardaway and Thomas would be hugging each other, celebrating the overtime triumph. The pleasant feel of victory replaced any hard feelings.
“Both of us just wanted to win,” Hardaway said later. “There was a mistake on defense and I reacted to it wrong and he reacted to me. It was in the heat of the battle and you want to win so bad that’s what happens.”
In retrospect, Hardaway was glad Thomas responded the way he did. There have been times when Thomas has been viewed as not caring enough about his craft. Last night, however, the intensity was there in a 35-point performance.
“I love that,” Hardaway said of the argument. “It lets me know he wants to win and I want to win. Tim and I are good friends. But when you’re out on the court, you’re going to have little spats like that. That’s what happens. It’s nothing major.”
What is major is the Knicks have regained a pulse. Showing energy on defense, unselfishness on offense, the Knicks looked like they would win easily. But the Lakers buried four consecutive 3-pointers in the final 1:24 as part of a 14-0 run to send the game into overtime. Even then, the Knicks didn’t fold, rallying from a four-point deficit to claim their fifth straight win at home.
“I think we relaxed a little bit and thought it was over,” head coach Herb Williams said. “But we showed a lot of courage in overtime. They kept playing and believed they could win.”
The Knicks’ stars of the game were from the core group that began the season. Tim Thomas made 13 of 19 field goals, Michael Sweetney had his best game as a Knick with 19 points and 12 rebounds, Stephon Marbury had 19 points and 12 assists while Kurt Thomas had 15 and 12.
But many of the Knicks credit the arrival of Rose, who had no points, and Taylor, who scored seven, with pumping some life back into the team.
“With this trade coming in, it really revived us to get a change in here,” Hardaway said. “The players we got are really good players. With more talent on the second unit, you’ve got guys you can dump the ball to.”
The Knicks are still a work in progress and will remain so into next season and the season after that. Say what you want about the trades, but the record speaks clearly: 3-0 and willing to fight to win.