This has not been a season to remember for Dikembe Mutombo.
He was cut by the Nets and has seen his minutes fluctuate greatly with the Knicks, and he barely played in his first two games back from abdominal surgery.
“It hurt a lot,” Mutombo said. “Sitting on the bench when you think you can help your team.”
Last night the center finally returned to his old form, sparking the Knicks’ 96-82 win over the Bulls at the Garden by dominating the paint defensively and playing 30 minutes.
“I think this sent a good signal to the coaches and management that I’m not done yet,” Mutombo said. “It’s been a while since I got a chance like this.”
He made the most of the opportunity. It was one of Mutombo’s best performances of the year and one that he was unsure if he would accomplish again.
“There were a few times when I didn’t know if I’d get to have a game like this again,” Mutombo said. “I’d see teams going to the basket and getting layup after layup and I couldn’t do anything about it because I wasn’t out there.”
That changed drastically in the victory over the Bulls, that coupled with Cleveland’s loss to Memphis last night, clinched a playoff berth for the Knicks.
Mutombo entered to an ovation with 5:15 to go in the first quarter and quickly began altering shots. “He was like the young Dikembe,” Tim Thomas said. “He was everywhere defensively.”
Mutombo finished with 14 rebounds and four blocked shots, affecting even more than that. The 7-2 center hopes the game is a sign of things to come.
“This was special after everything I’ve been through this year,” Mutombo said. “It even caught me by surprise.”
Mutombo expected to be worked back into the rotation slowly, but he was told to start the second half when it became apparent that he was changing the outcome of the game.
“I was hoping that he would come in and really help us shut the middle down,” Lenny Wilkens said. “He gave us that and more. He anchored the defense.”
So much so that Wilkens could hardly take him out of the lineup. Mutombo even broke out his finger-wag after blocking a shot in the third quarter.
“At the start of the second half, I was sitting on the bench and Lenny said, ‘Let’s go,’ ” Mutombo said. “I asked, ‘Where are we going?’ I didn’t know he wanted me out there.”