Galloway making his presence known with the Knicks

WELCOME to Lang-sanity.

It is a close cousin to Lin-sanity, a fever that gripped the Big Apple when undrafted, anonymous point guard Jeremy Lin came out of nowhere and saved the Knicks' season 3 years ago.

This season is too far gone for Langston Galloway to save, but the Knicks might have found themselves another rough diamond.

Galloway has two starts since his promotion from the D-League. The Knicks are 2-0, their first consecutive wins of a 7-36 season.

He scored 21 against the Pelicans on Monday.

He grabbed an offensive rebound and nailed a late three-pointer to ice Wednesday's win in Philadelphia. It was a fairy-tale moment . . . or, just another day at the office for Galloway. Big shots are part of his DNA.

Galloway spent 4 years hitting big treys on Hawk Hill; last spring, two of them sent Saint Joseph's to its first NCAA Tournament in 6 years. Of course, he would nail one in his first chance to play in South Philly.

When he hit this one, the section filled with about 50 Hawks and Arnolds went crazy. The Arnolds are Galloway's Philadelphia kin on his mother's side.

"We knew he had it," said Uncle Ben, brother of Galloway's mother, Jerri Arnold, the patriarch of the Sharon Hill, Pa., clan.

Apparently, confidence is genetic.

"I knocked it down," Galloway said afterward, matter-of-factly; after you hit enough big treys, one more doesn't overwhelm you. "I enjoyed being in Philly all these years. But getting a win was the main thing."

But not the only thing.

For years, Galloway watched Big 5 rivals Villanova and Temple play nationally televised games on the Sixers' court at the Wells Fargo Center.

He never got to play there.

"It was good," Galloway said, grinning. "I never would have even dreamed of doing this."

For Galloway, simply suiting up in the NBA is a dream come true. His listed height of 6-2 might be a bit high, and he played shooting guard at St. Joe's, so no NBA team nibbled. He had to convince NBA types he could run a team.

Galloway, 23, might be a six-game rookie on his second 10-day contract, but, said Arnold, he has something many of his teammates lack - experience leading a team.

"He played 4 years at St. Joe's, and he got his degree," said Arnold, who played at Lincoln University. "He's much more mature than a lot of young players in the league."

Galloway might not have the bloodlines of Tim Hardaway Jr.; or Shane Larkin, whose father, Barry, is a baseball Hall of Famer; or Sixers rookie Jerami Grant, whose father and uncle were NBA mainstays in the 1990s.

You know what none of them had? A field goal in the last 7 minutes on Wednesday night.

Galloway is used to this.

Last season, St. Joe's used a late three-pointer from Galloway to beat Virginia Commonwealth in the Atlantic 10 Tournament final, which ensured the Hawks' NCAA berth. Galloway had hit an even bigger shot in the final moments of the Hawks' first-round game of the A-10 Tournament against Dayton. He also nailed a three-pointer at Notre Dame in 2012 that led to an upset overtime win.

"He's ready for these moments," Arnold said.

He was made ready on Hawk Hill, and he went back there Tuesday to visit coach Phil Martelli and the team he left behind. He watched film. He ate dinner.

He chatted with Martelli, whom he called earlier this month when the Knicks promoted him on a 10-day contract. Martelli was on the team bus headed to play Duquesne, but he took time to caution Galloway:

"This is wonderful. Enjoy it. You're a real professional now. You got this chance because you show up early, and because you stay after practice, and because you're active on the bench.

"This isn't a 10-day contract; this is the start of a career."

Galloway's parents watched Wednesday from his hometown, Baton Rouge, La., and St. Joe's men's team was busy beating Massachusetts.

They missed a fine exhibition: 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists, no turnovers. Knicks head coach Derek Fisher was delighted.

"I thought he was great, because it wasn't a great night for him, in terms of all of his shots going in and making all the right plays. You find out a lot about a player when things don't go well. How does he respond?" Fisher said. "I thought Langston started out a little slow, probably really thinking about playing at home, but, throughout the game, he found ways to help us win."

Fisher, a late-game assassin during a 15-year career that ended only last spring, knows all about hitting big threes . . . and the dynamics that surround a fringe player contributing. Sometimes, the pedigreed guys making millions don't want to see a Cinderella story stealing their spotlight.

"To see Langston enjoy that moment - and probably, even more, to see the way the bench and his teammates responded to that moment - says a lot about him and what we're trying to do and what we're trying to be," Fisher said.

In Philly, Galloway was the big deal.

Galloway finished his 4-year career at St. Joe's as the school's second-leading scorer, with nearly 2,000 points, and set the record with 343 treys. His skill, grit and athleticism caught the eye of Clarence Gaines Jr., the consigliore of Knicks president Phil Jackson.

"Phil Jackson built two franchises into multiple championship winners," Martelli said. "He must see something in Langston."

Galloway's strong summer- league play earned him a spot at Knicks training camp, where he again shined amid a glut of guards. Galloway was cut, which put him in the position of choosing between the NBA's Developmental League and a more lucrative contract in Europe. Galloway stayed stateside with the Westchester Knicks of the D-League. He ran Jackson's triangle offense, returning to his high school point guard roots. He averaged 16.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists at Westchester.

Meanwhile, the dysfunctional and decrepit Knicks, expected to be a playoff contender, became the laughingstock of the NBA with their 5-36 start. The Knicks' losses have been Galloway's gains.

The key: Keep gaining.

"It was a good moment, but I've just got to move forward," he said. "I've only got another 10 days. I've got to make the most of it."

Galloway is much more than a shooter. He is an explosive athlete. His tip-slam above Dwight Howard last week announced his presence to the NBA with authority, and he did the same Monday.

The Arnolds were watching on TV.

"Oh, man, we went crazy," Benjamin said.

Not as crazy as they went Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

"Lang, I know you heard us," one of the Hawk women's players said afterward, accepting his hug as he climbed through the stands and waded among well-wishers.

"Yeah, I heard you," he said.

He almost looked like a high-schooler. He wore a thin sweater over a T-shirt, light gray jeans and sneakers, with a small pack strapped on his back. In a league filled with gilt-edged stars and stars in waiting, Galloway stands out because of his ordinariness.

It's just his play that has been insane.

On Twitter: @inkstainedretch