Even though Landry Fields is a Rookie of the Year candidate himself, the Knicks guard unquestionably believes Blake Griffin of the Clippers deserves to win the award.
“If I had a vote, I’d vote him Rookie of the Year,” Fields said of Griffin.
“Absolutely. That’s what everybody talks about. And I guess he was here last year, but he never got to play. And he’s blowing out this year. The numbers don’t lie. His team’s doing a lot better.
“Definitely he gets my vote.”
Fields and Griffin — possibly the NBA’s two top candidates for the award at this point — will match up for the second time tomorrow night when Griffin’s Clippers invade the Garden.
Sunday, in Fields’ final game before the showdown, he was exceptional, continuing his remarkable revelation of a rookie season.
In the Knicks’ 117-103 triumph over the 76ers, Fields delivered a career-high 25 points, hauling in 10 rebounds and notching two steals. He shot 10-of-13 from the field, sinking 5-of-7 from 3-point range.
“And they were all big shots,” Mike D’Antoni said. “He either stopped the bleeding or put us ahead.”
When some reporters were casually talking to Fields about Griffin’s eligibility for Rookie of the Year — even though he was drafted in 2009, he is up for the honor because he missed his rookie year with a knee injury — Fields said he feels honored to simply be in the conversation.
Fields has earned that place.
Entering last night’s NBA action, Fields ranked fourth in rookie scoring (10.2 ppg), trailing Griffin, Washington’s John Wall and Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins, and fourth in rookie field-goal percentage (.520). Fields was first in 3-point percentage (.391) and third in minutes (32.3).
Fields also paces every NBA guard in rebounding (7.2) and leads every Knicks player when it comes to plus-minus. Fields is plus-110 — next-best is Wilson Chandler at plus-69.
Fields, who’s slated to play with Griffin in the Rookie-Sophomore Game (Griffin also earned a spot in the All-Star Game), struggled when he faced the Clips in their first battle. On Nov. 20 in L.A., Fields put up seven points and two rebounds, and Griffin ripped up the Knicks for 44 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and two insane dunks over Timofey Mozgov and Danilo Gallinari. For the season, Griffin is averaging 22.9 points and 12.8 boards.
Fields’ numbers have been steady each month, which is impressive considering the rookie wall hasn’t crushed him yet.
“Maybe Stanford teaches a course that gets him through the rookie wall,” D’Antoni said. “He’s different from a normal rookie where he has his routine every day and he stays with it. He’s like a vet.”
Fields said he feels “pretty good, actually” at this point — surprising considering that not only is he increasing the number of games he’s playing but he also operates in D’Antoni’s running offense, which can physically tax you.
Though Fields is averaging 32.3 minutes, last year at Stanford he actually averaged a staggering 36.3, so he’s playing a bit less per game in the NBA.
And Fields said when he was with the Cardinal, the team’s offense wasn’t exactly slow-paced. And that’s helped.
“We were kind of both [running and half-court]. A lot of running, though,” Fields said.
“The coach tried to instill a running offense because that was our strength with the guys that we had. It was a nice little transition for me coming here.”