The Knicks took a number almost two years ago and, for all anyone knows, they might as well be waiting for Godot, not LeBron. So with 29 games remaining and four teams to leap over in the standings on a 30-year-old knee coming off microfracture surgery, Mike D’Antoni dispensed with all ceremony, caution and suspense, starting Tracy McGrady and the Garden’s heart up again last night in one fell swoop.
“I would imagine he’s our best player, I’m just taking a wild guess,” said the coach, damning the torpedoes and his 19-win team at the same time.
Half the building stood when McGrady was introduced, the other half rose when McGrady drove past Nenad Krstic and completed a three-point play, nailed a jumper, rebounded and whipped a breakaway pass to Al Harrington — all in the first quarter.
Ask Nate Robinson, who returned on New Year’s Day from a 14-game absence to go off for 41 points, adrenaline is a wonderful thing. Who knows whether the reality of McGrady having played 47 NBA minutes in 12 months before last night will set in tomorrow night against Milwaukee, but certainly he was having as much fun being on a court again as the fans were thrilled that court happened to be Madison Square Garden.
“Chills down my spine,” McGrady said.
The Knicks, winners of only one of their past 10, seemed to play with some chills, too, yet twice failed to close out Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Thunder, including an overtime in which McGrady was used only to inbound on his team’s final two possessions.
“His legs were gone,” D’Antoni said. “You could see it on the free throws.”
McGrady missed two of them when he could have sealed the deal in regulation. He still finished with 26 points, four rebounds and five assists in 32 minutes of Oklahoma City’s 121-118 victory.
The playoffs are as long gone as Chris Duhon by the summer, but a building chanting for McGrady’s return to the court in the fourth quarter buzzed with anticipation of what a star can do with every touch. The warmth helped a once-and-maybe-again star pull his game out of the freezer.
“There are a lot of unknowns, but it will be fun to see what level he can get to in these next few games, 20 games, 29 games,” D’Antoni said. “It’s a roller coaster.
“But it’s not like they took the cast off yesterday. And he’s up at a pretty high [skill] level, so even if he’s not up that high, it should be pretty good.”
The old McGrady could free up space for teammates, and he comes here as a guy with two months to prove he can do more just take up roster space until his contract expires on July 1.
Granted a fervent wish to do this reputation rehab in New York, he said Friday that money and ego will not cause him to pass at a highly-theoretical opportunity to live happily ever here with LeBron James and Chris Bosh. More likely is Plan B, McGrady becoming the fallback star to attract a Carmelo Anthony or Chris Paul from the next two free-agent classes.
“I didn’t expect to play 30-some minutes, felt good I was able to keep going,” McGrady said. “I expected to move the way I did, but to be that efficient [10-for-17 shooting], no.
“What better place to come back than at Madison Square Garden. It’s a great big stage and I embrace that.”
Never mind whatever baggage he carries from an acrimonious end in Houston, that doesn’t sound like anybody who has packed light for only a two-month stay.