NBA

D’ANTONI ENTRUSTS GALLINARI WITH CLUTCH MINUTES

For the first time in recent memory, David Lee was on the bench in crunch time. And for the first time ever as a Knick, rookie Danilo Gallinari was not only getting clutch minutes, but taking _ and making _ clutch shots.

They couldn’t save the Knicks from a 114-109 loss to Orlando, but those big fourth-quarter moments were telling nonetheless; that Mike D’Antoni wasn’t scared to entrust them to a heretofore-struggling Gallinari, and that the 20-year-old wasn’t afraid to seize them and make them his.

KNICKS BLOG

“No, those are the moments for which we live. Those are the moments that make players a champion, make great players. I like those moments,” said Gallinari, who had eight points and five rebounds in 13:12. He hit all three of his shot attempts _ 2-for-2 from deep _ in the final 1:45.

“In my career, I was always the one to take those shots, so I’m not scared about taking them. But I’m just thinking about being ready when the ball comes to my hands: That’s my only thought. To take the shot or not take the shot, my only thought is to be ready.”

Gallinari got his chance. After D’Antoni had watched David Lee morph Magic center Dwight Howard into Superman for three quarters, he’d seen enough. He benched Lee for the final 8:53, playing Al Harrington at center to pull Howard away from the basket and open the floor.

At that point, the Knicks trailed 88-75. But even though Gallinari had struggled since Feb. 2 _ averaging 5.3 ppg on 42.8 percent shooting _ D’Antoni played him all but one second in the fourth quarter, and the rookie helped the Knicks rally to within two points in the waning seconds.

“Gallinari I thought was really good going down the stretch,” D’Antoni said. “He’s a better defensive player than most give him credit for. They try to iso him and go at him, and he’s not bad. He’s really surprised me. If we can get him physically stronger, he’s another guy that’ll have a great future.

“He shows the ability to be unfazed by anything. A couple of shots that he had at the end of the game were sweet. He took a charge, he knows when to foul. He’s a very smart basketball player. He’ll make good plays. The more he plays, the better he’ll get. He’s good.”

Gallinari has long since been accustomed to the responsibility of big shots. He averaged 17.5 ppg as the go-to player for Armani Jeans Milano in the Italian A-1 League, despite starting last season as a precocious 18-year-old. He’s just getting a chance to show in New York what he showed in Milan.

Meanwhile, Lee found himself on the bench late for the first in recent memory. He’d both free throws with 1:12 left on Monday, and last night he didn’t even get that chance.

“You really want to make a big deal out of this? Why don’t we look at all the different lineups? I don’t remember (the last time I sat late). It’s been a couple games,” Lee said. “But I saw definitely what he was going for. I wasn’t upset whatsoever.

“You either try to go with two bigs in that time period and put Chris (Wilcox) and I both in the game, or you go with five smalls and get up and down a little bit. And he knew we needed some 3-point shots to get back into it, and that’s what we got.”

Lee still managed to finish with 10 points and 10 rebounds, his 21st straight double-double for the second-longest in Knick history. But Howard (24 points, 21 boards) is not only tied with Lee for the NBA lead, he was literally twice the player Lee was last night.

“The biggest thing was we went with Al Harrington at the five and took David out,” D’Antoni said. “I just thought for us to have a chance we had to get Dwight Howard out by the 3-point line and roll the dice, see if we could knock down some 3s. I think it worked to a certain extent.

“I didn’t think David was real sharp tonight. He didn’t have one of his better games. But David is still a double-double guy; I just thought for us to have a chance to win, somehow we had to get Dwight away from the basket. We were a little bit desperate at the time; that’s why we did it.”