Knicks get Gallinari back at right time
Spike Lee celebrates a shot by Danilo Gallinari of the Knicks against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Madison Square Garden. (Dec. 22, 2010) Credit: Getty Images
GREENBURGH, N.Y - Danilo Gallinari practiced Sunday and passed the eyeball test. "Danilo looked good," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Didn't see any limp or anything. So he should be 100 percent."
As much as the missing zest in their 10-point loss to the ramshackle Sacramento Kings on Friday, the Knicks fancy the return of Gallinari after a six-game absence to rehabilitate a strained knee.
Beyond his size (6-10) and scoring (15.3 points per game), there is the simple matter of having one more competent healthy player.
"What happens," D'Antoni said, "is you miss one other guy who can play. So when two guys are off, you don't have that third guy who can come in and change the game. It limits your options and, over the long haul, it's just a numbers game."
The Knicks (22-17) were 3-3 without Gallinari. His presence will be particularly welcome now that Ronny Turiaf, because of a hip injury, is questionable for today's Martin Luther King Day matinee at the Garden against the Phoenix Suns (17-21).
D'Antoni said Turiaf is "not going to be able to start but might be able to play. He's not 100 percent."
Neither is Gallinari, according to his own evaluation of lingering discomfort.
"Discomfort is not a mental thing," he said. "When you feel it, you feel it. But then, when you're in the game and have the adrenaline going on, the concentration, it's OK."
He said he "hopes not" to be wearing a knee brace longer than three or four games and, overall, "my knee feels good. It's not easy to stay out. Every NBA player in the world wants to play every game."
For obvious reasons, the Knicks welcome his participation. "Always good to have one of your big scorers, especially as a point guard," Raymond Felton said. "That's another option out there."
Gallinari "stretches the offense out there, makes teams guard on the perimeter," Amar'e Stoudemire said. "He's an offensive threat and very versatile."
Besides Gallinari's recovered health, the other topic of conversation going into today's game was the notably flat performance by the Knicks on Friday, their first home game after a four-game West Coast trip.
"Sometimes you run out of gas a little bit," D'Antoni said. "I don't want to accept any [bad losses]. But what are you going to do? You know, it happens, and I understand.
"Sometimes it does show up, and there are times that you have to look at the schedule and understand that's a hard game to, emotionally or physically, get up for. And you just try to guard against it."
