NBA

Shumpert, like Fields once did, giving Knicks fans reason to cheer

All he has to do is turn his head to the right, look at the locker stall right next door, to see how fickle the title can be. Iman Shumpert is the darling of Madison Square Garden right now, a pied piper with fewer than 10 NBA games to his credit and yet his every move provokes unmatched energy at the Garden, inspires unconditional affection.

On the floor, he is cheered every time he touches the ball, cheers that become roars during those semi-regular times now when he flicks the ball away from his man and starts a break going the other way. When he’s off the floor, he is often serenaded with his own chant. Even his misses and poor decisions don’t generate anything resembling groans.

“I think people like me,” he said with a half-smile, “maybe because I yell so loud whenever I’m out there.”

There are other reasons, but he is clearly the Garden’s adopted son right now.

Just like Landry Fields was at this time last year.

So yes: it is good for Shumpert to enjoy this phase of his career, this splendid introduction to the NBA. He should look around and have a listen, and take advantage of the honeymoon. He absolutely should drink in the adulation.

But he must also know: the Garden doesn’t keep you around as a favorite son for long. Last night, the Knicks turned in one of their finest performances since the opener on Christmas Day, beating a good 76ers team 85-79, and Shumpert was a big reason why, 10 points and three assists and two steals.

He also had one sequence early in the fourth quarter that electrified the Garden, brought it to its feet, invited the loudest roars of the young season, backing up a sweet 17-foot jumper by picking Jrue Holiday’s pocket clean, grabbing the ball and feeding Amar’e Stoudemire for a dunk that gave the Knicks a 17-point lead that they would threaten to fritter away across the game’s final minutes, though the Sixers never could catch them.

“I blame myself,” Shumpert said. “I was lousy toward the end of the game. A point guard’s got to play a better floor game in the fourth quarter than I did. We should have been shooting free throws a lot earlier than we did. … I put all of that on me.”

So you can add humble and accountable to the list of things the Garden adores about the rookie from Georgia Tech, a case of basketball puppy love that isn’t exactly unearned, because the Knicks are 4-0 since Mike D’Antoni inserted Shumpert into the starting five last week in Washington. And they do play a lot better when he’s in the game.

The Garden will live with his shortcomings because it wants to be smitten. Josh Harrellson has become a favorite as well, and he scored 13 off the bench last night, but there is little doubt who this year’s Fields is, a development which appears each night in sharp contrast since last year’s Fields — Fields himself — still is trying to find himself.

It’s interesting, because Fields still does many of the same things that made him so popular last year. He leads the team in plus/minus, which may not hold the cache in basketball that it does in hockey but does scream intangibles, which always has been Fields’ strength. Probably the Garden still remembers Fields’ failures in the playoffs last year, and it’s been his misfortune that most of his better games this year have been on the road.

But it’s probably simpler than that.

Fields isn’t the new guy anymore. He isn’t a novelty. Now he’s part of the furniture, a kid still learning his way in an unforgiving game. Every little thing he did was cheered last year. Now it’s ignored, or worse. The Garden has switched its affection to the new, new guy.

That won’t last forever. In time, Shumpert’s popularity will depend on his game, though he does look to have more than enough game to justify it. For now, everything he does is wrapped in gold. It’s a good time in a young player’s life. Just ask Landry Fields.