By MARC BERMAN
There was nobody more relieved than Isiah Thomas last night. There was a victory for him on the court and in the crowd. When the Knicks embattled coach/president was introduced, the negative reaction was mild – the cheering seemed to outweigh the boos.
The only Knick booed with gusto was injured Jerome James, shown on the video scoreboard, competing against Nate Robinson and Eddy Curry in that acting contest. Three Knicks attempt to duplicate the lines of a famous movie. Last night’s contest featured the Will Ferrell character in the Wedding Crashers, when he yelled for his mother to get them some “meatloaf.” Jerome never stood a chance in the voting. But other than the James’ serenade, the Knicks were well-received after their flat first quarter when they fell behind by 10 points. This wasn’t an overpowering victory, beating the downtrodden Wolves by four points. But on this night, nobody was measuring stuff like that. The franchise just was happy to avert a disaster and the Knicks won with balanced scoring and keeping their turnovers down again (13 last night, 24 in two games).
Jamal Crawford looked like a whirling dervish attacking the rim, finishing as high man again with 24. Stephon Marbury had seven assists, one turnover and 17 points, erasing the nightmare in Cleveland. Marbury had his game face on beforehand, not saying hello to a soul as he stonily dressed by his locker. Starbury had something to prove last night, especially with the salutations to Nate Robinson.
Zach Randolph didn’t shoot well, but played with grit in getting his 10 boards and the key one with 2.3 seconds left. Zach has great rebounding instincts, unlike the Knicks center Eddy Curry.
But the big story was the fans generally laying off Isiah. The Knick fans may be fatigued by the sexual-harassment story by now. Maybe they realize some of the facts have been distorted on Isiah’s view of the white-black “bitch” controversy. Vivian Stringer and Rev. Sharpton have supported Isiah in the last two weeks.
The Knicks are 1-1, aiming to be 4-1 when they head West after this four-game homestand. For a franchise that’s been dragged through the mud by everyone, including the commissioner, how sweet would that be.