Welcome to the Doghouse, Nate Robinson

What’s really surprising, is that it took this long for things to reach this point between D’Antoni and N8: “His patience with Robinson at an all-time low, D’Antoni took a drastic step to teach Li’l Him a lesson during the Knicks’ 118-104 loss to the Magic. Robinson recorded his first DNP of the season, and there is no guarantee that the veteran guard will see the floor tomorrow night against the Hawks in Atlanta. ‘We want to win,’ D’Antoni said after the Knicks fell to 4-15 after beating the Suns the previous night. ‘And if he’s conducive to winning then he’ll obviously be back in the lineup. If not he’s not.’ What made the benching all the more conspicuous is that three days earlier Robinson scored 22 fourth-quarter points against the Magic at the Garden. Orlando had no answer for Robinson…until D’Antoni gave the Magic one. ‘It is a coach’s decision,’ Robinson said. ‘He knows what he is doing. I’ve had plenty of DNP’s before in my career so it is nothing new.’ The benching was Robinson’s first since Dec. 17, 2007, when Isiah Thomas had had enough. D’Antoni, who according to sources was against the Knicks re-signing Robinson over the summer, has been critical of his behavior in recent weeks.”