Jan. 5, 1965 - Coach Harry Gallatin held up his hand with his forefinger and thumb a half-inch apart. “That much,” he said, squeezing out a thin smile. “We miss it by that much.” The Knicks wanted to beat the Cincinnati Royals tonight for their new coach. But they lost in an overtime thriller, 125-116, at Madison Square Garden. No, make the regulation 48 minutes thrilling, the overtime blah. Ten points by Oscar Robertson and eight by Jerry Lucas in the five extra minutes spoiled a fine storybook debut.
But Harry the Horse’s homecoming was not without its positives. There were the mechanical bloopers and passes into the ozone he’ll have to get used to living with, but he said he saw things he liked.
“Look,” he said, “I kept the [dressing room] door closed a while to tell them I thought they’d done a fine job. They hustled and played as hard as they could for me. That’s all I asked of them.”
The bright spots were rookies Howie Komives and Willis Reed (pictured), whom Gallatin said surprised him. Dave Budd, Johnny Egan, and Tom Gola played very well, but the coach said he figured they would.
“I liked Komives before,” Gallatin said, “but I didn’t know he could pop from the outside so well. He never showed me that when he played the Hawks.
“And I have to say Willis [Reed] surprised me, too. He was all right in the games against St. Louis, but darned if he isn’t tougher underneath than I thought he was. Wait till we get him faking under there a little more. It might have been a little different if we had him in the second half.” Reed, the only Knick named to the Eastern Division All-Star team, made four of seven shots and grabbed eight rebounds before injuring his ankle in a hard spill just before the first half ended. He pulled some ligaments in his left ankle and, if the doctor okays it tomorrow morning, will accompany the team for their game at Cincinnati.
Reeds was on the bench in street clothes for the second half and appeared to be getting around all right. “I think it’s okay,” he said, “but it sure pained me when I fell. I was scared.”
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