Tim Hardaway Jr. admits Knicks are completely lost
BOSTON — On a night Kristaps Porzingis fell back to Earth, the Knicks needed their big free-agent acquisition, Tim Hardaway Jr., to give them life.
Instead, Hardaway became a Boston bust to continue a disastrous start to his second stint as a Knick. In truth, almost every Knick who hit the hardwood Tuesday stunk out Beantown and afterward an exasperated Hardaway said the offense was disorganized and “lackadaisical.”
With the Celtics taking a 21-point lead just 15 minutes into the game, the Knicks were whipped up and down by Kyrie Irving’s depleted team in green, 110-89, at TD Garden. After an 0-5 preseason, the Knicks are winless in their first three regular-season games.
“We’re all out there just running like we don’t know what’s going on,’’ Hardaway said. “It can’t happen. It’s frustrating at the same time, but it’s still early in the season. We’ve just got to go to the drawing boards and get back to practice, just go out there knowing what we have to do offensively and defensively.”
Hardaway couldn’t throw the ball into Boston Harbor — a 2-for-11 outing that brought his three-game shooting ledger to an embarrassing 9-of-37. It’s a nightmare start after signing a whopping $71 million deal.
The facial expressions of Knicks president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry moments after the game spoke volumes. They looked ashen.
Hardaway’s defense also left much to be desired and the entire Knicks team was lethargic in getting back in transition defense.
Hardaway shot well — 50 percent — in the preseason, but now is facing a crisis. He acknowledged he tweaked his ankle in preseason, but wouldn’t use it as an excuse for his shooting woes.
“I’m not making no excuses,’’ Hardaway said. “If I’m out there, that means I’m 100 percent. There’s no excuse on the ankle, no excuse on anything. Yeah, I tweaked it in preseason, but it’s no excuse. I’m not playing the way I wanted to play and it sucks. But I can’t harp on that. You’ve got to move on, get back in the gym and work. My teammates have my back.”
This wasn’t a night to mince words about the offensive attack.
“You saw it out there,’’ Hardaway said. “It’s no secret. We’re turning the ball over, lackadaisical out there. Nothing seems crisp really. I mean, yeah, that comes with not really that much experience all together, like all these other teams.”
Coach Jeff Hornacek said the club got down on itself after missing shots and it affected the defense.
“Some guys had rough shooting nights and then we got tentative,’’ Hornacek said. “I thought it affected us when we weren’t making any shots.’’
It was a comedown for Porzingis as the Knicks offense looked sickly, riddled with one-on-one play and mustering just 33 points in the first half.
Porzingis, after averaging 32 points in the first two games, put forth a 3-of-14 clunker for 12 points in 32 minutes as the Celtics sent more double-teams at him than he saw in Knicks’ first two games.
Porzingis said the Celtics always have a different tactic to defend him with unusual schemes.
“I had a lot of double-teams coming my way,’’ Porzingis said. “And so it was something that I haven’t experienced yet. … I know I had a bad game offensively. I think I learned a lot.”
The Celtics (2-2) are still reeling from Gordon Hayward’s horrific ankle/tibia break exactly one week ago. But their young guns, rookie Jayson Tatum (22 points)and Jaylen Brown (23 points), torched the Knicks. Hardaway did a poor job closing out the 3-point line against Brown.
The Knicks trailed by 25 late in the second quarter. They finished in a 54-33 halftime hole and didn’t get closer than 16 in the second half.
“Obviously Boston is much more talented than us and they have more weapons, but that’s why, we as a group, we have to play the right way,’’ Porzingis said.
Knicks starting center Enes Kanter was the lone bright spot, attacking the glass with a vengeance — 16 points and 19 rebounds. Out of desperation, Hornacek put in out-of-the-rotation Willy Hernangomez with 3:41 left in the third quarter with the Knicks down 18 points and he finished with a robust 12 points in 11 minutes.
In the season’s first two games, the Knicks were at least competitive in the first half against the Thunder and Pistons. Tuesday, they were just dead in the water from the tip.