Knight Fighting a Slump

Travis Knight has either hit the wall or hit the big time, the results being the same either way. He isn’t hitting anything.

Knight’s rise from 12th man to the rotation to the opening lineup when the injuries came has finally leveled off, temporarily or otherwise, to where he went into Sunday night’s game against the Nets shooting 28.6% the previous six games. That came as he also averaged 2.8 points and 3.8 rebounds as the starting power forward in the same stretch, and with opponents now having had the opportunity to scout him and cut off moves that once worked.

Meanwhile, Coach Del Harris cuts his minutes. Since playing 50 in double-overtime against New York, Knight has gone 25, 26, 19, 12, 15 and 20 before being limited to 14 on Sunday, partly because he was forced out when he took an elbow to the head late in the third quarter.

“The minutes are fine,” Knight said. “Coach Harris, whatever he wants to do is fine. I haven’t been shooting the ball well. The last road trip, my legs seemed a little bit heavy. I’ve just got to play my way out of it.

“I feel like I’m trying. I think maybe the teams are starting to scout me out a little bit.”

More than likely.

“I think you could point to several things,” Harris said. “You could say he’s in a slump. You could say he’s been scouted better. But I think one thing all the rookies have noticed is that without Shaquille [O’Neal] in there, the defenses are not as focused on the low post. Other players are not freed up enough, as when Shaquille is in there.

“Travis is still going to be a good 12-to-18 minute player for us when everyone is healthy, and a better one than before the injuries. But to expect the guy to make another quantum leap in the same season . . . He’s good and he works, but he is mortal.”