MINNEAPOLIS — Knicks swingman James “Flight’’ White has a nice team goal in mind for All-Star weekend in Houston. He would like to see the Knicks pull off their own triple crown and take home a blizzard of trophies.
White will be in the All-Star Dunk Contest and has been installed as a 5-4 favorite on Bovada.lv, an online betting site. Steve Novak will be in the 3-point shooting contest as second choice to Golden State’s Stephen Curry at 5-2. Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler will participate in the main All-Star game next Sunday, with Anthony starting.
“We’re trying to make it a clean sweep,’’ White said before the Knicks’ 100-94 come-from-behind victory over the Timberwolves Friday night. “We’re trying to have Tyson or Melo win the MVP and me and Novak winning the contests.’’
Knicks coach Mike Woodson seemed genuinely excited White, who did not play last night and Novak, who scored 11 points, got the nods Thursday night. It was a far cry from Woodson’s mentor, Larry Brown, who scoffed at Nate Robinson’s historic slam-dunk titles when he coached the Knicks.
“It’s great,’’ Woodson said before the Knicks faced the Timberwolves last night at Target Center. “You got four players in our organization participating in one of the biggest games on the stage. I’m sure their teammates are all excited for them. Hopefully they’ll bring back some hardware in the 3-point and dunk contests.’’
Because Novak earned a four-year, $16 million contract as a 3-point specialist, the contest has extra meaning. Thursday night, TNT’s Charles Barkley called Novak “the best shooter in the league.’’
White, meanwhile, looks at the dunk contest as pure hobby as he has made it back into the NBA as a defensive stopper and rarely dunks in games.
Novak is shooting 44.4 percent from the 3-point line, ranking him third in the league behind Curry (44.9) and Chicago’s Kyle Korver (46.4). Of Novak’s 253 field-goal attempts, 205 are from 3-point land.
“To be honest, it’s a dream come true to be in the contest,’’ Novak said. “Growing up, being the player I am, it’s something I watched. The highlight of All-Star weekend was watching that, seeing those guys. The coolest part now is that will be me.’’
A reporter asked if Novak will be effected by having to shoot by grabbing balls off the rack as opposed to his customary catch-and-shoot.
“That’s what he does,’’ Woodson said. “He can shoot the basketball. He should be right at home with those racks and that ball in his hands. Hopefully he can bring it back to New York. It would be kind of nice.’’
Novak said he thinks it is different to shoot in the contest but more for players who get their 3-point shot off the dribble. The Knicks offense is built to create catch-and-shoot 3-point shots for Novak.
“It will be such a different environment,’’ Novak said. “Shooting off the racks, having the music blasting like that, being All-Star weekend. There’s not too much to prepare for it. You just got to go out there and make shots.
“It’s definitely different,’’ Novak added, referring to taking the ball off the rack. “Mainly because when you catch the ball from someone, you’re almost always looking at the rim. When shooting off the rack, you have to take your vision off every single time and it changes. That’s the biggest difference. For some guys I don’t think it’s too huge change. It is for some guys off the dribble.’’
White oozes with confidence when it comes to dunk contests. He seemed completely relaxed about his chances because of his natural leaping ability, though second-choice Gerald Green already has won the dunk contest title in 2007. When asked if he will begin working on things, such as his signature between-the-legs, leap-from-the-free-throw-line slams, White said: “I’m not practicing. I don’t practice dunks. I’m good.’’
White said it’s all about his legs and how they respond next Saturday.
“I just got to get my legs good, get a good massage,’’ White said. “Hopefully my legs feel good.
“I have a lot of famous ones on the Internet. I’m viral on the Internet. I got a lot of dunks. I just base it on what everybody else does. See what everybody else did and if I do something, I’ll just do it.’’