Unlike his teammates, Knicks starting shooting guard Arron Afflalo doesn’t have Twitter or Facebook accounts, saying he was too late and too old for the craze. But as his mates tweet out inspirational messages, the 30-year-old Afflalo saves his messages for the court.
When Carmelo Anthony took himself out for the second half with a right-ankle sprain Tuesday against the Celtics, Afflalo became the vocal on-court leader. While rookie point guard Jerian Grant made sweet plays in a coming-out party, Afflalo was a rock – scoring 10 points in the third quarter to keep Boston at bay, making clutch baskets in the fourth quarter. He finished with 24 points, including 8-of-12 second-half shooting in the final two periods when the Knicks needed him most as Anthony watched from the locker room.
“He led us, for sure,” Grant said. “I haven’t seen him like that throughout the season. He was talking. He was telling us. He was giving everybody on the floor confidence down the stretch.”
“AA’’ is still the Knicks’ X-factor. The team is 10-2 when he scores 15-plus points and 7-1 when he hits 18 or more.
The shooting guard doesn’t lack for confidence in any spot.
“I’ve been the number one option, second option,” Afflalo said. “I know how to get the job done. My job is not to compete with Melo every day. When he goes down, it’s no problem for me to step into that lane.”
The Knicks might need a lot of “AA’’ in Brooklyn on Wednesday night as Anthony appears highly questionable.
“Obviously, I’m capable of picking up slack when he goes down in the immediate sense, but we want our team to be completely healthy so we can be the best we can be,’’ Afflalo said.
More observations:
— Boston power forward and ex-Knick David Lee could be seen clapping on the bench, but looked forlorn. He’s out of Boston’s rotation, receiving another DNP, and likely will get moved at the trade deadline. A free agent this July, he doesn’t seem like a great fit for the Knicks right now with their plethora of power forwards. But perhaps it could work this summer, especially if they lose Lance Thomas to free agency. Lee loves New York, and still spends lots of time here in the offseason. That the rebounding extraordinaire Lee can’t get any minutes behind Amir Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, Jared Sullinger and even Jonas Jerebko seems odd, but the Celtics are playing guys with an eye on the future.
— As his minutes go up, Derrick Williams’ performance level rises. Williams was a whirling dervish off the bench, constantly pushing the pace, moving, drawing fouls, playing with higher energy than anyone out there. He logged 28:37, scored 15 points with 10 rebounds, shot 5 of 11 from the field and made all five of his free throws. He’s again looking like he did during the preseason.
— Remember when Kristaps Porzingis was reluctant to take a 3-pointer during the Las Vegas summer league? That shyness has almost completely evaporated, capped by Tuesday’s nine 3-point attempts. He loves the straightaway 3-pointer most of all. He finished 3 of 9 from downtown, but it’s good to see he is no longer hesitant. Porzingis admitted he has to adjust better to when a scrappy, physical guard like Marcus Smart is assigned to him. It shouldn’t take long.
— Fisher departed from his taut nine-man rotation to give a slice of time to reserve big men Kyle O’Quinn (2:01), Lou Amundson (3:10) and Kevin Seraphin (2:15). None of the three scored a point, but Fisher clearly wanted them to shed a little rust.