Rasheed Wallace said after the opener he had embraced his “Brian Scalabrine role.’’ But in New York parlance, it is the Herb Williams role — until at least Wallace gets into better game shape.
The “Ra-sheed Wall-ace’’ chants poured down again as garbage time approached, resounding with five minutes left and the Knicks up 12. Coach Mike Woodson, for the second straight game, didn’t hesitate and got Wallace in with 3:40 left to the crowd’s delight. In Williams’ final years as a Knick, “Herb” chants resonated — the signal garbage time was at hand.
Wallace didn’t disappoint as he grabbed a tough rebound to cheers, then hitting a difficult post-up in the lane.
Asked why he thinks the fans are chanting his name, Wallace said he’s part of “the dog and pony show’’ but that they also like his effort.
“They know I play hard and play with passion and emotion,” he said after the Knicks’ 100-84 victory over the 76ers Sunday at the Garden. “That’s what fans here cheer with — that passion, emotion and grittiness. It goes hand in hand.’’
On one hand, Woodson said Wallace is part of the playing mix, but then acknowledged he won’t play every night because of the NBA new small ball lineups.
Wallace’s status could be further hurt when backup center Marcus Camby returns following Monday night’s 76ers rematch.
“He’s in the rotation,’’ Woodson said. “It’s based on personnel. Miami played small pretty much. Had [Joel] Anthony, [Udonis] Haslem played significant minutes the other night, Rasheed would have played. We didn’t have to play him based on personnel.A lot of times for our bigs, it’s probably going to be that way. I don’t need him and Camby to play 30 minutes.’’
Even if he’s playing only on occasion, Wallace, who missed preseason because of conditioning issues, is helping as a leader, preaching defensive communication.
“It’s contagious,’’ Wallace said. “That’s what I told the young guys, talking. My speed isn’t the same. My agility isn’t the same but if you’re talking, it’s adding an extra defender out there. I’m not here to score. My main thing is defense when I’m ready.’’
* Tyson Chandler played 20:39 with the flu but missed the final quarter-and-a-half. After the game, he received fluids for dehydration and walked gingerly out of the trainer’s room with team medical director, Dr. Lisa Callahan.
Chandler told The Post he felt “OK’’ and planned to play Monday night.
* Knicks public address announcer Mike Walczewski switched up his pregame intro of Anthony, calling him by his proper “Carmelo Anthony’’ instead of “Melo,’’ as he did in the opener. Anthony said at Saturday’s practice the “Melo’’ was wrong.
* Patrick Ewing will receive the inaugural Johnny Bach Award at Fordham tomorrow night at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Bach still is the all-time winningest coach at Fordham and one of the defensive masterminds behind the Bulls championship run in the 1990’s.
* Ronnie Brewer started again at small forward in the small lineup, scoring nine points, adding five rebounds and moving the ball effectively. … Last season, the Knicks were 21-1 when holding teams to less than 90 as they’ve done in 2-0 start.