The overriding, obvious angle out of Thursday’s 82-81 Knicks heartbreaker to the Bulls was one superstar “rose’’ to the occasion and the other one didn’t.
Derrick Rose hit the gargantuan shot when it counted most for the game-winner and Carmelo Anthony answered with his fifth straight brick to finish the night 8 of 24. He had six steals but also four turnovers.
But there were plenty of other observations out of Chicago. Woodson seems to already trust his rookie Tim Hardaway Jr. in late-game situations more than Andrea Bargnani, who sat the final nine minutes after returning to the starting lineup.
On the floor in those finals seconds, with the Knicks needing a field goal to win, was Hardaway, not Bargnani. Hardaway has no fear. He took 13 shots in his father’s hometown, making four of them in 26:50 of action and finishing with 10 points. Of course, many of those minutes will go to J.R. Smith upon his return for the sixth game.
Interestingly, the Bulls took Tony Snell over Hardaway at No. 20. A lot of mock drafts had the Bulls taking Hardaway. Snell was a DNP on Thursday night.
Hardaway has his defensive lapses but shows great poise for a rookie. His proud agent, Chicago-based Mark Bartelstein, was on hand watching.
“I’m just reading what the defense gives you,’’ said Hardaway, who was 2 for 2 in the season-opening win over Milwaukee. “A lot of teams are focusing on Melo and Shump (Iman Shumpert) when he’s attacking. It’s just my job to take open shots.’’
And teams are leaving the Michigan product. “I’m getting really good shots, trying to mix it up, going to the basket,” Hardaway said. “I’m trying to make plays. Do what I can do to help the team win. But defense is the key part of my game I’m trying to get better at.”
Meanwhile, the defense has been very solid for the first two games. The Knicks defended the heck out of Rose (7 of 23) even on the last play. Center Tyson Chandler has been a big reason. He had 19 rebounds vs. Chicago and has been all over the place in the first two games. It’s too bad he missed that one free throw with 10 seconds left and couldn’t control that last tip-in. He’s a far different player than late last season.
On the down side, Amar’e Stoudemire looked rusty in his season debut. His first half was poor – with two turnovers and a failure to defend Carlos Boozer. But he got a couple of inside buckets in the second half. He’s on a 10-minute limit now and only stands to get better. But one must wonder if this weird platoon system with Kenyon Martin will slow his chance of getting acclimated. Under the bizarre system, both players are expected to play Sunday vs. Minnesota since there are two days off between games.
Metta World Peace got a bit too cocky Thursday, forgetting his role. He shot very well all preseason and in the opener. In Chicago, he rushed shots and had no touch – a 3-of-11 outing. But he had two steals and made two of four from 3-point land.
The Knicks are 1-1. They’ve been better than the record sounds.