While Kristaps Porzingis is the face of the franchise, center Enes Kanter is now the heart and soul of the franchise.
Hence, Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek’s decision to bench Kanter for the final 3:18 was the wrong one with right intentions. In a conundrum, Hornacek put in Lance Thomas over Kanter to combat Cleveland’s smallball, 3-point-shooting lineup.
In the teeth of crunch time, Kanter’s toughness and rebounding were missed on both ends as the Knicks completed their Cleveland collapse in a 104-101 defeat.
In the final 12 seconds, Dwyane Wade tore down an offensive rebound to all but cement the win.