When one thinks of famous troikas to have graced Madison Square Garden over the years, certain names come to mind: Riordan/Russell/Stallworth. Hadfield/Ratelle/Gilbert. Graves/Messier/Kovalev. Crosby, Stills and Nash.
J.R. Smith, Amar’e Stoudemire and Tim Hardaway Jr. are not generally thought of as residing in that rarefied air. But in the 2013-14 season, that trio pulled off a rare feat: they each averaged double-figure points off the bench. History remembers but in this case shrugs at the memory. That Knick team dropped from 54 wins the year before to 37 and kick-started seven straight years missing the playoffs, tying a franchise worst.