The first game back from the All-Star break started well enough for Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis, who notched three blocks in the first seven minutes — two on Thaddeus Young.
But as the game wore on, so did the mistakes for Porzingis as the Nets’ defense rattled him. In the fourth quarter, with the Knicks trying to climb back, Porzingis committed a bad foul on Young, crashing into him as he went over to help. It was his fourth foul and interim coach Kurt Rambis yanked Porzingis from the game.
Porzingis’ line in the 109-98 loss wasn’t bad — 18 points and eight rebounds — but he committed four costly turnovers and shot just 1 of 5 from 3-point land, 6 of 15 overall. It was a far cry from his sensational performance in the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star Weekend.
“Very disappointed,’’ Porzingis said. “Some of them were just traveling, just passing the ball. I just got to avoid those. I’ve got to be ready for the pressure. I’ve got to be ready for guys who are going to be active defensively and they’re going to try to make me turn the ball over, so I’ve got to see the film and study from there and have less turnovers in the future.’’
With the trade deadline over and the Knicks standing pat, a careful Carmelo Anthony said he wasn’t “disappointed’’ at the lack of activity because he had low expectations, but hopes some of the players who had been mentioned in deal rumors can now step up their games.
Anthony said he has no other choice but to believe in the assembled cast.
“We have to believe in what we have right now,’’ Anthony said at Friday’s morning shootaround just a few miles from where he was raised. “We didn’t make any moves for whatever reasons. I got to believe in this group even more now.”
Interim coach Kurt Rambis was asked what Anthony can do differently under his reign and had an interesting comment about his rebounding.
“As coach, you’re always wanting more out of your players and that includes him,’’ Rambis said. “Everybody can get better defensively until we’re holding teams to 30 percent shooting. We want him to rebound more. When he rebounds and pushes the basketball it puts a lot of pressure on opposing teams.’’
Rambis said Cleanthony Early (gunshot wound to knee) was cleared to do running at 100 percent, but not jumping.
“Each day, he goes through something, we push the envelope a bit,’’ Rambis said.
The interim coach said it’s his “understanding’’ Early will be back this season. A source told The Post in January that sometime in March was the goal. Early was shot during a robbery near a Queens strip club on Dec. 30.
After not playing in Rambis’ first game as coach, rookie Jerian Grant logged 16 minutes.