0RLANDO – Evan Fournier played nearly seven seasons for the Magic – so the new Knicks shooting guard knows what it’s like when New York comes to Magic City.
Even during their down days, the Knicks, who face the Magic Friday night, had a good showing of orange-and-blue patrons inside Orlando’s downtown arena.
“Of course I remember,’’ Fournier said at the morning shootaround Friday at Amway Center. “You actually hate it. There’s a few teams like that. There’s a lot of Miami fans, Boston, New York. It’s a horrible feeling. Now that I’m on the other side of it, I’m looking forward to it 100 percent. I’m looking forward to seeing the Knicks fans.’’
Fournier was traded from Orlando to Boston at the trade deadline last season and has already made one return trip back to Orlando.
“That was I think a week after I got back from COVID,’’ Fournier said. “We got the win. I’ve played here already, so that was my homecoming. Honestly, it feels good to be in a (familiar) arena, see guys I know, see people from the organization.’’
Fournier poured in 32 points in the Knicks’ 138-134 season-opening win over Boston, hit the go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute of double overtime and drained three 3’s in the first overtime.
After a tentative preseason, the 28-year-old Frenchman also took the ball to the basket and showed a more diverse game than Reggie Bullock, the player he replaced. He looked every bit a $78 million player.
“You want to start like that obviously, veteran or not,’’ Fournier said.
Fournier retweeted a photo of Knicks fans celebrating manically outside the Garden after the dramatic win.
“What did I get myself into?” he tweeted with several laughing emotes.
“I was laughing my ass off,’’ Fournier said. “I thought it was hilarious. They’re crazy, but they’re passionate. And when you play that’s what you want, you want a fan base that’s really pushing you. The energy that they gave us against the Celtics was a big reason we won the game.’’
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