NEW ORLEANS — Reality comes quickly for rookies in the NBA. The leap from summer league glory to the grind of the real season — and facing real NBA players every night — provides a wake-up call of just how much they have to learn.
But Knicks first-year coach David Fizdale has little hesitation about playing his rookies, and with the team in a free fall of late, he tweaked the lineup and inserted all three of them into the starting five Friday night against the Pelicans.
If it showed something, it was that the trio have as little fear as their coach, helping build leads of 16 points in the first quarter (and as much as 19 points at 39-20 with 9:30 left in the second quarter).