Stop the presses! The Knicks are in playoff position.
The Knicks eased into a tie with Milwaukee for the eighth place last night, moving past the Nets and drilling the Hawks with a second-half splurge that gave them a 112-104 victory and earned a rousing standing ovation as the buzzer sounded.
Nate Robinson scored 20 of his 24 points during the fourth quarter to seal the Knicks’ fifth victory in six games and seventh of their past 10 and 20th. It’s only late January, but who cares after what this club has been through.
The Knicks were in the eighth hole in March 2007 – when they beat the Wizards in Washington and earned Isiah Thomas a contract extension – and they hadn’t been heard from since.
Mike D’Antoni and Donnie Walsh don’t need contract extensions, but they deserve a pat on the back. The team (20-25) is three victories from tying last season’s win total. The Knicks have four games in hand on Milwaukee.
“I said this in December that it would be nice to have games matter in the months of March and April,” said David Lee, who looked deserving of an All-Star slot with 17 points and 16 boards. “We’re setting ourselves up if we can have a good February to be in that position.
Three of Thomas’ late-first-round draft studs are propelling this surge – Lee, Wilson Chandler and Robinson, now fully out of his slump.
“We are knocking on the door and that’s a good thing for us,” said Chris Duhon (16 points, 11 assists).
The 5-7 ½ Robinson lit it up fourth. Robinson, whose jersey sales are 10th in the league, converted a wild alley-oop dunk from Duhon, posing after the theatrical play. He followed that up with a deep 3 from the left corner that gave the Knicks their biggest lead, 96-85, with 6:12 left.
Chandler, named yesterday to the Rookie-Sophomore All-Star Game, added 12 points, off the bench. The Knicks have a sturdy nine-man rotation, with rookie Danilo Gallinari aboard. Though Gallinari played just 9:32, making two of three shots, his return has coincided with this major 5-1 upswing. The Knicks have won five straight games at home.
The Knicks could get more good news today if Lee is named an All-Star – the team’s first since 2001. Walsh admitted last night Lee has helped his free-agent stock and said it’s unlikely Lee will be traded by the Feb. 19 deadline, and Walsh has given every indication he will re-sign Lee without hurting the salary cap.
“I appreciate how much talent he really has,” Walsh said. “He’s really helped whatever he’s going to get next year by the way he’s playing.”
Walsh said he’s no longer getting many offers for Lee because he has turned down so many.
*
Walsh said Miami is not a place he’d want Stephon Marbury to wind up. Marbury said he has two teams “he can play for,” referring to Boston and Miami. Walsh said, “There has to be a motivation on our part [not] to do something that could end up hurting us.” Yesterday on Fox Radio in L.A., Marbury confirmed The Post’s story that the Celtics gave him a commitment that they would sign him if he became a free agent.
Knicks 112 Hawks 104
