Marcus Camby expects to be ready against Lakers on Christmas

The Knicks should get a big man back on Christmas, but it won't be Amar'e Stoudemire.

Marcus Camby, who missed his 12th straight game with plantar fasciitis in his left foot, expects to be available Tuesday when the Knicks face the Lakers in Los Angeles.

Before getting hurt, Camby was out of the rotation. But the Knicks are missing Rasheed Wallace, and Camby could give Tyson Chandler a respite.

"I'm ready to compete," Camby said. "We've been playing exceptional basketball without me and Rasheed. We're not begging for minutes, but we know that we have to find some time to get Tyson some rest."

Camby hasn't been able to help the Knicks after signing a guaranteed three-year, $10-million deal. He's played six games and doesn't have a field goal.

Camby, who missed most of training camp with a calf injury, took a cortisone shot to help the pain in his foot. "It's been frustrating," he said. "I've been a starter the majority of my career. Coming here and not really getting an opportunity because of my calf in the preseason and things of that nature, but at this point in my career I'm not asking a lot of big minutes. Our depth that we have on this team enables me to do that."

Mike Woodson essentially ruled Stoudemire out for this three-game trip. He wants Stoudemire, who had knee surgery on Halloween, to go through a practice, and the Knicks won't have one until they return from the West Coast. "My talk with Amar'e was, first and foremost, are you healthy enough to play?" Woodson said. "And he's not at that stage right now."

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Wallace (acute stress reaction, left foot) shot before the game, but Woodson sounded as if he won't play in L.A.

One fewer T for Carmelo

By getting Friday's second technical rescinded, Carmelo Anthony now has seven this season. There's an automatic one-game ban when a player accumulates 16 techs. "I wasn't surprised," Anthony said. "I was going to fight that one anyway."