NBA

Isiah can’t bench Curry in Chitown

By MARC BERMAN

CHICAGO – With all the fan-blog calls for a boycott, the Knicks attendance bears watching from here on in. After selling out the first six games, the Knicks have just one sellout in the last six.

Against Seattle Wednesday, the Knicks crowd was announced at a season-low 17,637, though there were a lot of no-shows. Most observers thought about 14,000 were in the building and they weren’t as loud as usual and only got truly nasty in the final two minutes. The Knicks postgame notes accidently listed a sellout and it was incorrectly reported in the late editions as such. But it was an honest mistake by the Knicks and the accurate number was reflected in the official box score. The Knicks-Nets game Saturday is not yet a sellout – a bad reflection of basketball in our area. Empty seats are the only thing that moves owner James Dolan. That is why former GM Scott Layden eventually got the axe. Losses against lowly Seattle is a killer because Knick fans realize if they can’t beat the Sonics at home, there’s nobody they can beat.

All appearances are Eddy Curry will start vs. the Bulls Friday night and thus hear it from the Chicago faithful like he’s heard it from the Garden. Curry, at practice today, was with the starting unit. Think Isiah Thomas didn’t have the heart to humiliate Curry back in his hometown against his former club. But one more dud, and Curry should be out of the lineup vs. the Nets, whom the Knicks beat when Curry missed the game.