Head coach Tom Thibodeau of the Knicks looks on during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, in New York. Credit: AP/Mike Strobe
After the Knicks absorbed a one-sided defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night, a large contingent of the team’s young players went back on the Madison Square Garden court to work out. And then Elfrid Payton appeared, heading to the other end of the court to shoot by himself.
He had endured a scoreless night, missing all six of his field goal attempts, and handed out just one assist and if the Garden wasn’t nearly empty with no fans allowed in the calls would likely have been renewed to yank Payton from the starting lineup, the rotation and maybe even pushed out of New York.