CLEVELAND – Larry Johnson, suffering from back spasms, sat out last night’s game, forcing the Knicks to start Kurt Thomas at power forward vs. the Cavaliers. One-half hour before the game, Johnson said he would try to play but backed out after warmups.
Johnson started feeling it in the fourth quarter Friday. In the preseason, Jeff Van Gundy sat Johnson on the second day of a back-to-back. But he didn’t want to do it in the regular season, although Johnson has admitted he may no longer be an 82-game player anymore because of his various ailments that also includes both his knees and his left foot that was sprained during preseason.
Van Gundy said he would start Kurt Thomas in Johnson’s place and run more pick and rolls for Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell. Johnson had scored 23 points in Tuesday’s season opener against the Cavs, abusing Shawn Kemp.
Johnson’s absence meant a bigger role last night for John Wallace. Although most of the Knicks have picked up their games from the preseason, reserve forward Wallace is still struggling in his second stint as a Knick.
Wallace’s shot isn’t falling, he’s getting in quick foul trouble, and in the first two games he again showed a lack of defensive intensity that marked his preseason.
After playing poorly his first two games, Wallace was a little better in Friday night’s win in Detroit, although he still got into foul trouble. Wallace has committed nine fouls in 23 minutes – about half of which were offensive.
“Illegal screens are being called much tighter,” Van Gundy said. “He’s got to adjust. The last game against Detroit he worked harder on defense. He’s still not getting the ball in the basket but he has good shots right now and for whatever reason they’re not going into the basket.”
Van Gundy always praises Wallace for being a student of the game and knowing the game plans. Friday, Wallace corrected an official who put Michael Curry at the foul line instead of Terry Mills, whom Wallace had hacked.
Wallace, who the Knicks signed as a free agent for his low-post offense, is shooting 3 of 11 from the field.
The Knicks’ 3-0 record equaled their best start since 1994-95. The last time the Knicks were 4-0 was 1993-94 when they got to 7-0 .
Van Gundy’s anger over Friday’s morning shootaround in Auburn Hills stemmed from feeling the Knicks had a bloated attitude because of their 2-0 record. Van Gundy, who stormed out in the final minutes, believes even when you win, you still work on mistakes and the team apparently wasn’t very attentive. “I’m very happy [with 3-0] but not content,” Van Gundy said after the Detroit win. “We still have a lot improvements to make. We have to make corrections as we win so we could continue to win.”