Knicks lineup battered, bruised and thin
WASHINGTON - As snow fell on the nation's capital Saturday, the Verizon Center hosted a pair of basketball games: Duke-Georgetown in the afternoon before a sellout crowd and Knicks-Wizards at night before a less than half-filled arena.
It's not hard to imagine which contest was more buzz-worthy. President Obama and Vice President Biden sat courtside for No. 7 Georgetown's 89-77 victory over No. 8 Duke; the streets around the arena an hour before the NBA game were filled with exuberant Hoyas fans sloshing about in the rare D.C. winter blast.
None of which mattered much to the Knicks. The state of their union was questionable going into the game, with four key contributors attempting to play through injuries and only three of them able to go.
Al Harrington, who had an MRI on Friday on his sore right knee, was pronounced fit to play after going through his pre-game workout.
Then he was pronounced unfit to play about five minutes before game time.
Jared Jeffries (right knee bone bruise), who also had an MRI on Friday, did start last night for the Knicks, who had lost five of seven going in. Jeffries could only go one half in the Knicks' previous game, a 106-104 loss to Toronto on Thursday.
"He's just got a bruise, so I think it's just if he can play, he'll play," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "He'll let me know during the game how he feels. I don't know if we can replace him [defensively]. We'll just have to do it collectively. Everybody will just have to play a little bit better. Jared's kind of a unique player. He gives us options that without him on the court we don't have."
Two other Knicks are banged up, which isn't a good thing since the team also plays Sunday night at Minnesota and needs wins to remain in the playoff picture. Wilson Chandler is battling a strained groin muscle and Nate Robinson is dealing with a troublesome hamstring.
"You just play through it," Robinson said. "You've got to go hard or you don't go. Then you're hurting yourself and your team."
Robinson missed the second half of the Knicks-Lakers game on Jan. 22 and didn't dress for the 50-point loss to the Mavericks last Sunday.
"I couldn't go like I usually go, so I wasn't going to go half-speed," he said. "I knew I wasn't able to go. It's tough because you want to play, you want to help. If you can't go, you're better off treating it now and then helping your team in the long run."
Robinson returned on Monday against the T-Wolves, but said he still isn't 100 percent.
"It's getting there," he said. "Keep pushing on it until I get healthy 100 percent. Treatment before games, after games, before and after practice."
The Knicks' combined aches were painful enough for D'Antoni to cancel practice Friday because he didn't have enough bodies. The Knicks also didn't have a shootaround Saturday afternoon, but that was more due to the unavailability of the Verizon Center.
Without Harrington, D'Antoni said rookie Jordan Hill or Jonathan Bender could see more time. Larry Hughes remained deep on D'Antoni's bench; before the game, he was in demand as Washington-area reporters quizzed him on good friend Gilbert Arenas, the suspended Wizards star.
Hughes said he thought Arenas would play again for the Wizards. But when asked if he would play again for the Knicks, Hughes said: "That's a good question."
