Rasheed Wallace is living in coach Mike Woodson’s penthouse, and Marcus Camby appears to be in the doghouse.
As Wallace’s role grows, Camby, one of the Knicks’ big free-agent signings, has faded from view — sitting out the past two games in San Antonio and Memphis. Even with Wallace and Chandler getting five fouls in the third quarter against the big, beefy Grizzlies, undersized Kurt Thomas was chosen to fill in as Camby sat.
Camby missed all of preseason and the first three regular-season games resting his calf strain. Asked after the Memphis game if he was OK physically, Camby emphatically said, “I feel great.’’
The yin and yang of the volatile Wallace was displayed in Friday’s combative battle in Memphis, when the Knicks received the first blemish to their perfect record — no longer the league’s lone unbeaten team. But as much as Wallace pushes the envelope, he is squarely Woodson’s guy.
Still brandishing a mighty 6-1 clip, the Knicks host the disappointing Pacers in a noon Garden matinee today. Then they hit the road again for a three-game trip through New Orleans, Dallas and Houston, for their first showdown with Jeremy Lin.
“We’re dogs,’’ Wallace said in explaining the impressive start. “We’re in a foxhole fighting, supporting one another. It’s not like we’re blaming the loss like, ‘Oh man it’s [Carmelo Anthony’s] fault tonight, or my fault.’ No, we lose together. That’s why we’re dogs. We’re all sticking together. We got heart.’’
Wallace, who has become the main big-man backup, scored some beautiful baskets in the post Friday to finish with 13 points in a season-high 23 minutes. But Wallace also was part of the third-quarter meltdown that cost the Knicks the game. He picked up a technical foul — extending his career NBA record to 314 — and shouted at heckling fans in the court-side seats, barking he already has a championship.
A concerned Woodson walked over to Wallace to tell him to stop engaging the crowd. Wallace patted Woodson’s shoulder and said, “All in fun. I got it under control.”
Afterward, Wallace said, “That’s part of my game. That’s what I do. I talk trash and I can back it up. I like to have fun with the fans. They’re jabbing at me. I like to go jab at them. It’s all in fun, though.’’
In the next breath, Wallace said the club needs to “keep their heads’’ in those situations. In the second quarter, after J.R. Smith and Jerryd Bayless got into an altercation, Wallace shouted in the huddle, “Keep your [expletive] heads!’’
After the game, Wallace seemed to be sending a warning to the Grizzlies’ locker room, promoting the March 27 rematch.
“Hats off to the Grizzlies, but one thing I have to say,’’ he said, “they’ve got to go to the Garden.’’
Wallace, averaging 7.0 points on 46.5 percent shooting and 3.3 rebounds in 13 minutes a game, has become the most eloquent, candid talker in a locker room filled with important voices. He still hates the media, greeting them by his locker late Friday night: “What do you need, savages?’’
Camby, meanwhile, has become a ghost. After Thursday’s enormous San Antonio victory, in the boisterous locker room, Camby quietly sat alone at his locker, eating a postgame meal.
Camby, 38, made his debut in the season’s fourth game vs. Dallas, playing eight minutes. He played three minutes in Orlando and remained glued to the bench in San Antonio and Memphis. He hasn’t taken a shot.
Woodson said Camby’s conditioning is a factor. But the real reason may be Wallace’s offensive upside is higher. The ex-Piston can shoot the 3-pointer — although he missed 13 straight across three games last week — and score in the post, a lost art. He rebounds as well as Camby and blocks shots. Wallace’s timing — after being retired for two seasons — is back.
But Camby hasn’t gotten a good look. He and Thomas are waiting for their turn, or for Wallace to implode.