Soon, the Garden will resound with chants of “De-Fense!’’ instead of “We Want Humphries!’’
But it was still preseason and Knicks fans were so giddy last night, they seemed more obsessed with mocking Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband.
In their first game at the newly refurbished Garden in a feel-good night, the Knicks toppled the Nets, 88-82, in their preseason finale before a sellout crowd of 19,763. The fans booed Nets forward Kris Humphries every time he touched the ball and chanted his name in the final quarter for the evening’s highlight.
The Knicks’ defense has a chance to be worthy of their own chants during a 66-game season that begins Sunday against the Celtics. The defense is well ahead of the offense — a first in the Mike D’Antoni era.
The Knicks shot just 33.7 percent and still prevailed. That’s primarily because of their beast in the middle, 7-foot-1 center Tyson Chandler, whose Knicks debut featured eight points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and his first wild gyration to the crowd after a monster, one-handed put-back dunk in the first quarter.
“The moment I ran onto the floor, I couldn’t stop smiling, knowing I’m finally here and representing New York,’’ Chandler said.
The Knicks finished the shortened preseason at 2-0, with both victories over the Nets. They get the Celtics Sunday, even if their offense doesn’t appear in flow. The Knicks held the Nets to just 79 points until Sundiata Gaines’ meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“I thought we played great defense,’’ Chandler said. “We still have a lot of growing to do. The communciation’s a little off. Offensively we need to get our timing. There’s a ton of things we have to work on, but, man, we played hard.”
And the fans made it hard on Humphries.
“I like it, to be honest with you,” Carmelo Anthony said. “Our fans shouldn’t be cheering for nobody else, and that’s the way it should be.”
D’Antoni said though his two rookies — center Josh Harrellson and first-rounder combo guard, Iman Shumpert — had poor shooting nights, they will be in the opening-day rotation. The two youngsters combined to shoot just 4 of 22, but they have added defensive grit to go along with Chandler’s defensive demeanor.
Harrellson hauled down 10 boards, had three steals and two blocks to go along with seven points in 24 minutes. Shumpert, who also scored seven points, shot just 2 of 12 but was a defensive rock, with two steals.
“It’s going to be a pretty long rotation all year,” D’Antoni said. “It should be at least 10, 11 guys, maybe even 12. I think the two rookies, they are going to be a part of everything and have earned some time.’’
D’Antoni’s offense is usually a sleek, up-tempo machine but nobody shot well last night. Anthony was the lone Knick to come close to 50 percent, hitting 8 of 17 for 21 points. But he was 1 of 5 from 3-point range and the club was 8 of 30 from deep. Amar’e Stoudemire scored 15 points on 5-of-14 shooting and had two blocks.
“We couldn’t throw it in the ocean,’’ D’Antoni said.
“I’m very pleased the effort we put forth,’’ Anthony said. “For the most part, we played great defense.’’
The 6-10 Harrellson, who has shown he can hit the perimeter shot, has been a training-camp revelation, and he brings a lunch-pail mentality to complement the star power up front. Last night, Harrellson dove to the floor to save a ball from going out of bounds, moving it ahead to Toney Douglas (13 points, eight rebounds).
“My main concern was trying to make the team,’’ Harrellson said. “Making the rotation wasn’t in my mind. ’’
D’Antoni has become a fan of Harrellson.
“He is dirt-strong,’’ he said. “He stands people up. He has got pop to his game. He surprises you how he gets up for rebounds.’’
Shumpert’s 3-pointer was errant last night — he made just 1 of 6. But he learned something, especially with idle veteran point guard Baron Davis giving him advice on the bench.
“He said I was settling,’’ Shumpert said. “D Will [Deron Williams] backed off me. He did it on purpose. He tried to get me to shoot shots. I did it. I got Baron in my ear to drive, make them, help, create, kick out and get open threes for other guys. ‘’
Chandler said the team isn’t ready for their opener, but neither are a lot of teams.
“There will be some hiccups early,’’ he said.