Knicks forward Lance Thomas was at the Garden on Sunday, watching his former coach, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, win his 1,000th game while getting a firsthand look at a potential future Knick, center Jahlil Okafor.
If Thomas keeps playing the way he is and the Knicks hit the lottery, he could be around next season to welcome Okafor to the NBA.
“He can play,’’ Thomas told The Post following the game. “He’s a force in there. He kept his composure [Sunday] and you can only contain him for so long. He doesn’t even know how good he can be.’’
Thomas met Okafor (17 points, 10 rebounds) for the first time after the game and congratulated Coach K.
“It was amazing to be there,’’ Thomas said. “It was a great game. I got chills seeing how our guys wanted to win it for him and then to see how happy he was.’’
Known strictly for his work ethic, his energetic defense and being a good locker-room guy — even at Duke, where he was a role player on the 2010 national title team — Thomas is showing life in the NBA with his offensive play.
He’s coming off back-to-back nights in which he hardly looked like an offensive liability. Not known for having a reliable jump shot, Thomas made 8-of-10 shots against the Magic on Friday. In the starting lineup for the first time as a Knick on Saturday, he followed with a decent outing in the 76-71 Charlotte loss that broke the Knicks’ three-game winning streak. He scored 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting with eight boards, three assists and one block.
With Amar’e Stoudemire’s game and health deteriorating in the final months of his $100 million contract, Thomas’ minutes are going to be there. The Brooklyn-born power forward may have clinched his chances of re-signing for the rest of the season, with his second 10-day contract set to expire this week.
Meanwhile, Stoudemire said he could miss some time after spraining his ankle and wrist in Saturday’s loss, in which he scored one point in 12 minutes. The Knicks (8-37) host the Kings Monday, and Stoudemire and Jose Calderon (bruised knee) could be absent.
Since returning from London, Stoudemire has looked as if he’s on a 10-day contract. After the loss to the Hornets, Stoudemire said his poor performance was due to the injuries.
“I’m sure it’s going to take a little time to get over this ankle sprain,’’ he said.
Eventually there could be a mutual parting of the ways. In London, Stoudemire said he had “a tough decision’’ to make whether he wanted to remain part of this in-season youth movement.
The 26-year-old Thomas, born in Bedford-Stuyvesant, moved to New Jersey when he was 5 and attended Newark’s St. Benedict’s Prep, as did J.R. Smith. “I’m a Jersey guy,’’ Thomas said.
While Smith complained about the difficulty of the triangle, Thomas has just learned it. Fast.
“I pay close attention to detail on how I can be effective in the triangle offense,’’ said Thomas, who started 12 games with the Thunder at the season’s outset. “The guys know I play defense. That is what I do. I try to make that contagious.’’
With Carmelo Anthony resting his knee Saturday, the Knicks played a defensively gritty game, though not aesthetically pleasing, with both teams shooting less than 36 percent. As one league scout who viewed it from home put it, “It was one of the worst NBA games I ever watched.’’
To Thomas, there was beauty in the effort — something the Knicks couldn’t be accused of showing before he arrived with the other 10-day guys, Lou Amundson and Langston Galloway. All three, all undrafted, were in the starting lineup Saturday. As miserable as this season has been, at least the Knicks have become a hustling bunch with their additions of Thomas, Amundson and Galloway.
“At the end of the day, we’re fighting,’’ Thomas said. “Guys are giving everything they got. It always sucks to lose but if I’m going to lose, I’d rather it be with everything we got. I think we fought.’’
Derek Fisher seems to enjoy coaching a team more in his image. He indicated he feels the triangle is better off without proven scorers Smith and Iman Shumpert.
“I think as you see with a little bit of change of guys, a lot of things open up within the offense that you can do,” Fisher said. “But you need guys like Lance and Lou and Langston that are facilitators of the offense and not constantly looking for shot opportunities for themselves.”
Fisher appeared to be referring to Smith and he’s happier he has the other former St. Benedict’s star to coach now.