New York Knicks rookie Mitchell Robinson discusses the early part of his season.
Chris Iseman, Staff Writer, @chrisiseman
NEW YORK — David Fizdale has spent the season trying to find which lineups work, which don't, which combinations bring the most scoring and which defend the best. So the Knicks head coach has given nearly his entire roster chances to start as he continues to tweak and experiment.
Fizdale tried a new starting five Tuesday night.
He started Mario Hezonja, Noah Vonleh and Enes Kanter and sent the rookie trio of Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson and Allonzo Trier to the bench for the Knicks' game against the Portland Trail Blazers, who possess one of the top offenses in the NBA.
The Knicks got off to a good start and pushed Portland to the final minutes, but again faded late before falling, 118-114 at the Garden.
CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard, who make up one of the top backcourts in the league, were stellar.
McCollum had 31 points and made five three-pointers, while Lillard had 29 and drained three triples.
"We had a lot of improvement tonight I thought," Fizdale said. "Defensively we took a step forward. You’re just dealing with a top three backcourt in the NBA. They do that to a lot of people."
The Blazers had a nine-point lead with eight minutes remaining, but the Knicks pulled back to within three. Trey Burke, who finished with 19 points, had two key fourth-quarter threes.
McCollum drained a triple with just less than two minutes remaining to put Portland up, 114-109. But then Evan Turner fouled Tim Hardaway Jr. as Hardaway shot a three.
Hardaway, who led the Knicks (4-14) with 32 points, made all three free throws to make it a two-point game.
After Noah Vonleh missed two big foul shots, a step-back jumper from Lillard put the Blazers (12-5) back up by four with 44 seconds left.
Hardaway then hit two free throws, but a putback from Turner off a Lillard miss made it a four-point game again.
That was as close as the Knicks could come.
"We’re playing teams all the way down to the wire and we’re coming up short," Burke said. "I think that’s been an ongoing story all year."
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Shuffling things up
Fizdale's new starting five was the sixth he's tried this season. His latest change came after the rookie trio struggled in the two games they started together on the Knicks' road trip.
Robinson, who has been a shot-blocking machine but is still raw, has been picking up too many fouls in recent games. He had five in each of the Knicks' previous two games.
The big problem is he was picking them up so quickly.
"I have to take him out then," Fizdale said. "If he gets his third, I’ll have to sit him out the whole half with four minutes into the game. That’s not going to help him grow.’’
Kanter started the first five games of the season. He scored and rebounded, but his defense was poor. Looking to set a better defensive tone at the start of games, Fizdale replaced him with Robinson.
The move didn't please Kanter, who has at times subtly expressed his frustration.
But he was back with the starters on Tuesday.
"We just need to win the game," said Kanter, who finished with seven points and five rebounds in 26 minutes. "First unit, second unit, lead the second unit, whatever it is we just need to go out there and win games. That’s the most important thing. Obviously Coach is always trying to do something to figure out what’s best for us and we’ll see how that works."
Hezonja had just two points on 1-of-5 shooting in 17 minutes. Kevin Knox had two points in 12 minutes off the bench.
Vonleh finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds in a solid performance.
The Knicks have played 18 games. Fizdale has said that by 25 games in, he ideally would like to settle on a starting five so players can settle into their roles and get into a rhythm.
At this point, Fizdale is still tinkering.
"We’re trying to learn them, see what they’re capable of, what they can handle," Fizdale said. "What’s their strengths, what’s their weaknesses, who they play well with. We didn’t know any of these guys, really, getting them all together. I didn’t for sure. My staff didn’t. So once we got them together we had to start figuring out what fits and who can handle what. And so that’s really what this has been about."
Email: iseman@northjersey.com