NEW YORK _ With the lights turned down at Madison Square Garden, RJ Barrett stepped into the spotlight at center court and addressed the crowd, punctuating his welcome message to the fans at the Knicks home opener by proclaiming, "I'm proud to be a Knick." He then drew the loudest ovation of any of the players as the entire roster was introduced.
Three games into Barrett's career cheering for him seems like as sure of a thing as any for Knicks fans.
By the time the home opener had turned to the third quarter there were chants from all corners of the arena begging Knicks coach David Fizdale to insert Frank Ntilikina into the game. If the former lottery pick who has totaled three minutes of playing time in the first three games is the answer then Fizdale certainly has a lot of questions.
The Knicks started well and then completely collapsed, watching Kemba Walker come in and score 32 points as the Celtics crushed the Knicks, 118-95.
It wasn't lost on the fans that Ntilikina had done a stellar job on Walker in helping France knock the United States out of the FIBA World Cup this summer. But despite the Knicks insistence on a defensive-minded brand of bully ball, they instead showed no resistance as the Celtics manhandled them, right down to 7-6 rookie Tacko Fall entering the game in the final minutes and dunking repeatedly on the Knicks.
The Knicks committed 26 turnovers for the second straight game, 39% from the floor and surrendered 61 second half points.
There has been little that could be counted on from the Knicks as this latest incarnation of the roster has begun the season. The starting lineup? It was the same for Game 3 as it was in Game 2, but with little assurance that Fizdale won't continue to tinker as he tries to find five players who fit together.
Barrett led the Knicks with 26 points Saturday and Julius Randle had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The last few lottery picks before Barrett? Kevin Knox has played well, but is doing it off the bench. Ntilikina has been buried, playing less than three minutes in San Antonio and never getting off the bench in Brooklyn nor playing Saturday in the home opener.
The veterans that the team signed? All but Randle got only one full-guaranteed year on their deals and might not even last to the trade deadline. Kyrie Irving, one of the free agent targets who spurned them in the summer, beat them Friday. And another star who switched teams, Walker, is leading the Celtics. "It was (a consideration). It was," Walker said before the game. "They were definitely one of the teams I was looking at in free agency. But I picked Boston. I just felt it was a better fit for me."
"Everything (the Celtics) stand for I want to be a part of. It's a very winning organization. They have great players I enjoy being around. Definitely think it's the best fit for me."
And New York?
"That's my hometown," Walker said. "I probably miss the pizza the most."
So from this, Barrett might already be the best right now on the team and the likeliest to be here for a long time. He might be the sort of player who can lure a free agent next time around _ and the Knicks will have the cap space if they want it to enter the free-agent market again next summer.
