BOSTON — Hopefully the Denver Nuggets brass didn’t watch this one.
Despite another Danilo Gallinari no-show that led to a second-half benching, Amar’e Stoudemire willed the Knicks into contention last night with another powerful fourth quarter.
A Stoudemire 3-pointer pulled the Knicks to within two points of the mighty Celtics with 17 seconds left, but the defending Eastern Conference champs hung on, 105-101, last night at TD Garden.
The Knicks, who debut at the Garden in their home opener tonight against Portland, rallied from an 11-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter. Trailing by four, Wilson Chandler, an offensive dynamo again, had two opportunities to cut the deficit to one, but missed two 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds as the club fell to 1-1.
Chandler, early favorite for Sixth Man of the Year, wound up with 19 points but in a perfect world, it would be Gallinari on the court taking those bombs. The puzzling Gallinari finished with two points and was chained to the bench for the game’s final 21 minutes as coach Mike D’Antoni seems to already have lost confidence in the Italian Stallion.
Stoudemire finished with 27 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Twelve of his points came in the fourth quarter.
“We played good basketball,” said Stoudemire, who shot 8 of 17 from the field and 9 of 13 from the free-throw line. “We gave them what they were looking for. We could still get better. It was definitely encouraging tonight.”
Gallinari, the key piece in any deal for Carmelo Anthony, hit a new low. Gallinari, who said his right wrist was in pain, shot 0 for 6, including 0 for 3 from the 3-point stripe. His lone two points came from the free-throw line. He played just 12 minutes and got in early foul trouble before D’Antoni yanked him for good three minutes into the third quarter.
Gallinari bolted the locker room soon after the game, his wrist wrapped in ice. When reporters caught up to him down the hallway, Gallinari kept changing the subject to the team’s solid performance, trying to avoid his own individual dud.
“Everything is fine, I don’t see not fine things,” Gallinari said. “We played a great game against the best team in the East.”
Gallinari was 3 of 9 in the season-opening win in Toronto, leaving him at 3 of 15 for the young season. He missed the final two preseason games with a sore wrist. At the morning shootaround, he said, “I feel a little bit of pain. I don’t want to say it affects anything but I feel discomfort. I just have to play with it.”
On the benching, D’Antoni said, “He didn’t play well. That’s why he didn’t play. You can’t take Landry Fields or Wilson off the court.”
Like Stoudemire, D’Antoni said he was pleased with the team’s effort.
“I thought our guys played with as much heart as you can play with,” the Knicks coach said. “If we play that hard, we’ll get some wins.”
The Knicks couldn’t stop Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, who racked up 24 assists — second-most in franchise history, behind Bob Cousy’s 28 in 1959. Stoudemire didn’t do much defensively against Kevin Garnett in the fourth quarter as KG finished with 24 points. Nevertheless, Stoudemire got them back into it late — his monster driving one-handed slam ignited the rally and a 3-point bomb got the Knicks within 103-101 with 17 seconds left.
“Willpower,” Stoudemire said. “I think we all understood we still had a chance to win. We focused in, got stops. “I tried to provide hope, that in the fourth quarter we feel we have a chance to win.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers marveled before the game, “Stoudemire gives them a closer. Last year they were in a lot of close games and couldn’t close them.”
They didn’t close it last night, but if Gallinari ever gets his mojo back, this team could be good.