Danilo Gallinari’s responsibility shift sparking breakout season

One of the more remarkable stats coming out of the Nuggets’ win at New York on Saturday came courtesy of Danilo Gallinari: He scored a career-high 37 points – with just one 3-point make. Anyone believing Gallinari was solely a long-range shooter, and there are many, wouldn’t have bet he’d tally that many points in a game without the benefit of four or five buckets from beyond the arc. And yet, the New Gallo didn’t need them. Well, this Gallo is at least new to us. The venue in which this all took place was as interesting as the act itself: Gallinari was drafted by the Knicks as a shooter, and that was the only role he played in his 2½ seasons there. But in his first game back at The Garden, Gallinari returned as a playmaker – the slasher/scorer/decision-maker that he was never fully trusted to be at any point during his years in the blue-and-orange. This has already been a transformative year for Gallinari, who is enjoying the best season of his young care...