D'Antoni: Barron's name hasn't come up

Fans who are clamoring for the Knicks to sign 7-foot free-agent center Earl Barron to help fill the team's hole in the middle are not going to like this:

Coach Mike D'Antoni said Barron's name hasn't even come up.

"What is it? Where are we? March 23rd?" D'Antoni said Friday, which was March 25. "We can go out and find a really good player that's going to compete in the NBA playoffs as a center and 15 teams need one and you're going to go pick one up? That's a little bit of fantasy basketball to me.

"I just don't see it that this late in the season, he's going to learn all the plays and get into the system and now let's get another guy in there."

Barron recently was let go by Milwaukee after two 10-day contracts. He spent the end of last season with the Knicks and averaged 11.7 points and 11.0 rebounds in seven games. But D'Antoni said that familiarity wouldn't necessarily help him because the Knicks have made over their roster twice since then.

"He probably doesn't know anybody on the team," he said. "Maybe Toney Douglas he remembers, that's about it."

Remember him?

Anthony Randolph, who couldn't crack the Knicks' rotation before getting dealt to Minnesota as part of the Carmelo Anthony trade, had a career-high 31 points along with 11 rebounds while starting in place of injured Kevin Love on Wednesday night.

"Anthony's a very talented basketball player," D'Antoni said. "He'll be able to put up a lot of numbers over there. I don't see it as being out of the ordinary."

It's magic

The Knicks went into Friday with a magic number of six to clinch a playoff spot. After their loss to the Bucks -- who are tied with the Bobcats for ninth -- it's still six.

"I look at it, like everything else," D'Antoni said. "But our main focus is trying to play better and get some wins. And then the second focus is to get in the playoffs, so obviously you look at it."