WITH 4:07 remaining in the Knicks' 92-74 blowout victory over the Raptors yesterday, the Garden stood as one and offered an apology to Renaldo Balkman.
A Knicks victory was assured. So, as Jerome James entered to replace Balkman, the building stood and offered a "thank you" and "we're sorry" in one thunderous ovation to a player whose arrival to the Knicks was welcomed with a legendary chorus of boos.
That was on draft day last summer at the Garden Theater, where he was announced as the Knicks' first-round draft choice and 20th pick overall.
They booed the South Carolina product without really knowing him as a man or player. They booed because the so-called experts didn't know much about Balkman either. But as the 6-foot-8 forward said after being the octane in the Knicks' triumph, "Now they know me."
The ovation that followed him to the bench yesterday was well deserved. It was for the player who personified the energy, hustle and resilience the Knicks displayed in ending a two-game losing streak. The rookie totaled 15 points and 12 rebounds, flying from rim to rim like some kind of trapeze artist in dreadlocks.
Out-hustling the Raptors front-line, Balkman was a perfect 7 of 7 from the field for the game and had 10 points and seven rebounds in the third quarter, when the Knicks erased a 42-40 deficit at halftime by outscoring the Raptors 35-13.
"Whenever we give him 30-plus minutes, he normally has double-figure rebounds and double figured points," Knicks coach/president Isiah Thomas said of Balkman. "He finds a way to change the game."
GETTING TO KNOW RENALDO
