WASHINGTON — With Derrick Rose nursing an ankle injury and Kristaps Porzingis out with a stomach virus, this was the kind of game in which Courtney Lee needed to be more than a complimentary piece.
He needed to be the guy in whom the Knicks have invested $50 million; the kind of player who can help carry a squad at least for a night when it’s undermanned against a hot team. If Lee really had turned the corner, as his previous five games had suggested, then Tuesday night was the time for validation.
Instead, Lee missed his first four field-goal attempts, setting the tone for a miserable night for himself and the Knicks, who were drubbed 117-101 by the Wizards at Verizon Center.
Lee finished with five points on 2-of-10 shooting, including 1-of-5 from 3-point range. The Knicks weren’t very competitive after being outscored 19-5 to start the third quarter.
“I tried to be aggressive early on,” Lee said. “But the shots weren’t falling, shots we normally make. It was one of those days; tough day.”
Lee can’t carry all the blame for the Knicks, who shot 36.6 percent from the field, including 5-of-24 from 3-point range. But his performance was especially disappointing after his near heroic effort in the four-overtime loss at Atlanta on Sunday. That was a bittersweet game for Lee, who scored 17 points. He made a clutch 3-pointer to send the game to a third overtime, but missed a game-tying shot at the end of the fourth OT.
“That game shows guys want to win,” Lee said of the Knicks’ effort in the Hawks’ 142-139 triumph.
The Knicks didn’t look like they wanted to win Tuesday night. The energy level was low, as was the overall effort. With 4:42 left in the game and the Hawks leading 108-89, Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek began clearing his bench. Someone in the bleachers began waving a sign that read: “Fire Phil.”
Hornacek suggested the Knicks might have been drained from their four-overtime loss. But Lee wasn’t buying that.
“No excuses,” he said. “We had a travel day in between to get rest. A lot of guys just didn’t make shots today, including myself.”
Amid the signs calling for Phil Jackson’s job and talk of trading Carmelo Anthony, Lee was among those hoping more attention would be paid to Betmarino the Knicks’ slim playoff hopes.
They are 3 1/2 games out of the last playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
“There’s always going to be chatter about everything that really doesn’t matter,” Lee said before the game. “The thing that matters is that we’re not far from being in the playoffs. A couple of wins here and there and a couple of other teams take some losses, we’ll be right there. That’s the important thing.”
Lee has to be a big part of that process if the Knicks are going to have any chance. He was starting to show signs he is ready to raise his production as familiarity with the offense and his new surroundings have led to improved performances. He had averaged 16.6 points per game over his previous five.
“It’s understanding the offense a little bit more, understanding the personnel and building that chemistry over the games and trying to be more aggressive also,” he said.
Lee’s coming-out party seemed to start against the Wizards on Jan. 19 at the Garden, when he passed up a late-game shot after he became distracted by Wizards assistant coach Sidney Lowe, who had wandered too far out on the court. The Knicks lost 113-110.
“He fooled me,” Lee said at the time. “I still should have took the shot.”
That’s the point Hornacek stressed.
“He passed up the one shot in that game, but since then he realizes he needs to shoot it and he’s taken it upon himself to look for his shot,” Hornacek said. “We need him to score the ball and he’s done a great job these last few games.”
At least until Tuesday night.
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