Maybe it will be Iman Shumpert who elevates himself. Maybe it will be the rookie out of Georgia Tech who becomes more involved in the Knicks offense with Amar’e Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin sidelined.
“He was phenomenal on both ends of the floor,” interim coach Mike Woodson said after Shumpert’s marvelous performance in last night’s 108-86 rout of the Magic.
Shumpert delivered the best performance of his rookie season, pouring in a team-high-tying 25 points, shooting 10-for-21 from the floor, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out four assists last night. Perhaps most encouragingly, Shumpert — who until recently was shooting miserably from three-point range — had his second straight solid outing from beyond the arc.
Shumpert shot 4-for-10 on 3-pointers against Orlando, following up his 3-for-6 effort from deep on Monday against Milwaukee. He came into this week shooting just 26 percent on 3-pointers for the season. But he has now drilled 7-of-16 the last two games.
“I think I’m just getting more opportunities,” Shumpert said.
Woodson said last night he was curious who would deliver without Stoudemire and Lin, then said, “We’re getting it from everybody.” That’s hard to argue. Shumpert, though, has been the biggest revelation.
Monday against Milwaukee he had 11 points and six rebounds. In the Knicks’ two games without Stoudemire and Lin — both against good teams — Shumpert is averaging 18 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 44 percent on 3-pointers.
“I told him that we need him to play like that the rest of the year,” Tyson Chandler said. “He completely changed the game. When he gets into guards like that, he takes them out of the game.”
Woodson added, “He changes the game from a defensive standpoint.”
Entering Monday, Shumpert had missed his last seven 3-pointers. But he sank a trio of them against the Bucks, then got going versus Orlando with a first-quarter 3-pointer off a pass from Carmelo Anthony. Shumpert added a corner 3-pointer in the second quarter and two more in the third.
Shumpert also sank a step-back jumper, a foul-line jumper, took it to the basket for multiple layups and threw down a fast-break dunk off a nice feed from Landry Fields.
Even with the Knicks playing their 51st game last night — Shumpert has played in 44 — the rookie is holding up fine physically.
“[Veterans have] got a lot more years in their legs than me,” the 21-year-old said. “I should be all right.”
Or superb.