Twenty kids from the Newtown choir stood at center court and began to sing the national anthem before the Knicks’ 120-81 victory over the Kings last night at the Garden. It was an act that was far from the routine.
It has been just short of two months since the shooting that killed 20 elementary students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The emotions of the heart-wrenching tragedy gripped the Garden as the children from Newtown honored their country.
By the time the choir got to “… land of the freeeee,” the ovation from the standing crowd began to build to the point where you could barely hear “… and the home of the brave.”
As the kids left the floor in single file, J.R. Smith rushed over and gave each of the singers a high five as they walked by. The crowd continued to salute its approval.
Maybe the rest of the country has started to forget about what happened in the quiet Connecticut town in December. But the Knicks remembered. About 150 children, staff members, teachers and family members from Sandy Hook were in attendance for last night’s game.
It was a reunion of sorts. The Knicks, without fanfare, traveled to Newtown on Tuesday and visited with about 400 children and their families at the Newtown Youth Activity Center. The Knicks City Dancers and Madison Square Garden’s Garden of Dreams Foundation were also in attendance. There was no media — just the Knicks organization and the kids.
It was billed as a “Knicks Family Fun Day” complete with basketball drills, contests and other activities such as face painters, magicians and balloons. The visit lasted for about three hours as the Knicks took pictures, signed autographs and distributed jerseys and other memorabilia.
“We wanted to put smiles and hope back in the families’ faces,” Amar’e Stoudemire said. “It was an awesome event and great for us to interact with the families we saw. It was great for them.”
Knicks coach Mike Woodson was proud of his players for embracing the visit.
“That event was a great event for us to be able to take the team down and spend some time with that community,” Woodson said. “They got hit hard. They’re still trying to recover from it. To be able to go down and touch those kids and talk to parents and them being able to come up here and watch us play I think is pretty special.”
Maybe it was the emotional start to last night’s game, maybe it was because it was the second game of a back-to-back, but the Knicks started sluggishly and trailed 13-3 early. Then Stoudemire came off the bench and scored seven of his 21 points to ignite the Knicks to a 25-20 lead that was soon 56-33 at halftime.
It eventually turned into the kind of blowout the Knicks needed in capturing their fourth win in a five-game homestand that concludes against the Pistons tomorrow.
It also made for a memorable night for the children and families of Sandy Hook, who watched the game from a suite. They declined interviews.
“They want it to be private and intimate and just enjoy the game,” a Knicks spokesman said.
The Giants and the Jets embraced the Newtown community in the aftermath of the horrible shootings. The Knicks did their part this past week.
“I don’t care what community you live in or visit, you hate to see a community go through something like that,” Woodson said, “especially when you’re dealing with young kids. A lot of those kids never had a chance.”
The Knicks helped by putting on a show last night, routing the Kings like the Globetrotters beat up on the Washington Generals. It was Knicks Family Fun Day again.