D'Antoni said on Sunday in Toronto that Gallinari will have to start at the bottom of the pecking order, in respect to the veterans on the team. Well, those veterans (Quentin Richardson, Larry Hughes and Chris Wilcox) were a combined 2 for 11. D'Antoni reached a point in this game where he was looking for anything to provide a spark. He yelled for Gallinari, who was riding a stationary bike in the tunnel.

It wasn't just the two three-point bombs, which splashed nothing but net, or the nice step-back pull-up jumper against Dwight Howard. It was the charge he drew, the rebounds he snared, one which he wrestled from two defenders and kicked out to Nate Robinson for a trey.

The kid just plays with that something. He may not have the veteran savvy, but he's got that something. And right now, that something is more valuable than veteran savvy.