The house was getting impatient, because even the god-awful Sacramento Kings were proving difficult to put away. There was a restless rumbling all night. There was grumbling. There was the odd voice tumbling out of the upper reaches of Madison Square Garden, aimed at whichever Knick had just turned the ball over.
The message, which probably was intended more for Leon Rose than for Thibodeau, was this: Feel free to take someone out. Temporarily. Or permanently. Your choice. Leon Rose must be open to doing business at the trade deadline.The Knicks are still within shouting distance of the postseason at this moment, but Knicks fans are savvy enough to know what lies ahead. The Kings were one of the last teams they’re going to be favored against for weeks.
So yes: you can understand what the fans were doing Monday night, raising their voices for Reddish again in the fourth quarter as the Kings attempted to sneak back in the game. You can sense they understand the Knicks, as currently constituted, cannot continue as they are, even with Derrick Rose expected to return by the end of the month.