Hahn: For Knicks to shine, Gallo must find his shot

Raymond Felton didn't name names, but he immediately pointed to the lack of a perimeter game as an explanation for why he and Amar'e Stoudemire have not been able to get the pick-and-roll - a staple of the Mike D'Antoni offense - working effectively.

"Everybody is sucking in right now," Felton said of opposing defenses.

They can because Danilo Gallinari isn't pulling them out. One of the NBA's best three-point shooters last season has shot 2-for-11 from outside the arc in three games this season. He missed all three of his looks in a 105-100 loss to the Trail Blazers in the Garden opener last night and finished the game 2-for-9 from the field with four points.

Perhaps a bigger concern than the shooting problem is the fact that Gallinari isn't doing anything else, either. The 6-10 forward failed to grab a single rebound in 15 minutes and has yet to record an offensive rebound in 59:44 of playing time in the first three games of the season.

Before the game, D'Antoni seemed to call out Gallinari's mental toughness when he said, "You've got to play through things."

But right now, when a good start to the season is important for the team's overall confidence, the Knicks can't afford to have Gallinari do that in close games, which is why he sat for the entire fourth quarter for a second straight night.

Still, even with Stoudemire's presence and instant offense off the bench from Wilson Chandler, the Knicks can't win these games without Gallinari, whose perimeter game is so important.

Gallinari insists his right wrist, which he sprained late in preseason, is not a problem. In fact, he did not have it taped, as he did in the first two games of the season. Yet when pressed about why his shot has been so off, Gallinari quickly points to the fact that he usually can spend a lot of time in the gym working on it, but "I cannot do a lot of shooting like I usually do every day because of my wrist."

Perhaps he can't fully shake the rumors that he'll be involved in a trade for Carmelo Anthony.

D'Antoni tried to get Gallinari out of his funk by challenging him with the job of defending Brandon Roy. The strategy is simple: if he focuses on his defense, perhaps it will get his mind off his offense. But it didn't work. Roy had eight of his 29 points in the first quarter, getting open for a three and beating Gallinari for a layup.

And at the other end, Gallinari's shots were flat.

Here's something to know about Gallinari's jumper: When it's on, it's one of the most beautiful shots in the game. The ball sails in a high arc that snaps the net like a wet towel.

Evidence that the issue is not related to the wrist: In warm-ups, the net was snapping. In the game, the rim was clanking.

Gallinari missed his first three jump shots but connected on a quick power-up with 5:16 left in the first. The next shot caught nothing but air. In the second half, he missed two more perimeter shots. That's when the famed Garden groans began.

There was a time he would create a buzz when he merely loaded up for a shot. Now they're giving him the Jared Jeffries treatment. Gallinari is shooting a Jeffries-like 20.8 percent from the field (5-for-24) in the first three games. Meanwhile, Chandler (22 points and 16 rebounds) continues to make a case for himself to move back into the starting lineup. But would D'Antoni take away scoring from his bench while also causing further damage to Gallinari's fragile ego?

"I think it's a little early right now, but everything is on the board," D'Antoni said. "You want to improve and you want to win, but I don't want to do things too early."