Two games into the preseason, Knicks fans are already delighted with their new point guard – just not the one they’ve been waiting to see.
With Derrick Rose in Los Angeles to attend a civil trial in which he is accused of rape, free-agent signing Brandon Jennings’ fast-paced and flashy play sparked a strong offensive performance from the Knicks, who recovered from an abysmal preseason opener to defeat the Nets, 116-98, in their second exhibition game Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Jennings only played 14 minutes, but finished with four points, five assists and four rebounds, while registering a plus-12 rating. He also had three turnovers.
“I think Brandon did a great job of getting us going, picking up the pace, almost forcing us to get out in transition and run and keep up with them,” said Carmelo Anthony, who finished with a game-high 16 points in 19 minutes. “That’s him. He’s been playing like that since high school. Nothing has changed. He’s feeling good about himself, he’s feeling healthy, he’s got that joy about being out there again on the court.”
Jennings, who suffered a torn Achilles in January 2015 and was limited to 48 games last season, displayed all the talent that made him the 10th overall pick in 2009 and made the Garden crowd sound as if they would be thrilled to see him playing starter’s minutes.
After shooting 2-for-10 in the preseason opener, Jennings drilled his first jumper and showed a desire to get the ball to Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis (12 points, six rebounds), eliciting giddy reactions on multiple drives and crossovers.
Jennings even delighted himself, doing a shimmy after throwing a no-look, over-the-head pass to a trailing Marshall Plumlee for a fast-break dunk.
“I was just trying to pick up the pace and find easy shots for my teammates,” said Jennings, who said he now weighs 175 pounds after ballooning to 210 while injured. “I feel faster. I hope you all think I look faster. That’s just the best thing. I lost a lot of weight when I was dealing with the Achilles injury. I just feel like myself again. … I feel fast like my rookie year.”
The Knicks’ recent 130-103 loss to the Rockets even provided rare preseason motivation.
“After getting blown out on ESPN the first game, we see that teams aren’t taking preseason lightly, so we can’t either,” Jennings said. “I was definitely embarrassed. Regardless if it’s the first preseason [game] or not, just to get embarrassed like that on national TV we can’t let that happen again.”
First-year guard Chasson Randle may have been the biggest beneficiary of Rose’s absence, maintaining the up-tempo pace established by Jennings. Randle, 23, made a strong argument to be included on the Knicks’ final roster, finishing with 14 points (5-of-9 shooting, 3-of-5 3-pointers), three steals and two assists.
“I love him. I just love his poise out there, the way he controls the game, controls the basketball,” Anthony said of Randle. “I think you guys will love him, too, the more that you see him play.
“I know it’s the second game, but we saw flashes tonight of what we can be offensively, just coming in waves and different guys coming in. … You haven’t seen much with Derrick, but you’re gonna see the same pace, but a different style when he comes back.”
The Knicks shot nearly 54 percent from the field and made 12-of-27 3-pointers. Defensively, the Knicks weren’t as impressive, but improved from the preseason opener, in which they allowed 22 3-pointers against the Rockets. The Knicks held the Nets to 39 percent shooting from the field and 27 percent 3-point shooting.
“It was better,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “I still think there are a lot of things that we’ll need to repeat in practice and go over.”