Chandler feeling better; game backs that up

MIAMI -- Tyson Chandler, still feeling the effects of the flu Monday night, wasn't sure what he would be able to give the Knicks. All he knew was that it would be much more than what he gave them in Game 1.

It would have been hard not to top that performance. Chandler said he was a "zombie" and "didn't know what was going on around me" Saturday. He was scoreless with seven turnovers, including four offensive fouls.

Chandler had more bounce in Game 2 Monday night, finishing with 13 points and seven rebounds in the Knicks' 104-94 loss to Miami.

"I was a lot better than last game," he said. "I'm still not a hundred percent, but I'm sure by next game I'll be fine. I had more energy and I was a little more lively. Last game I was just here, didn't have anything."

Chandler expects to be all the way back for Game 3 Thursday at the Garden. The Knicks will need him because it doesn't look as though they will have Amar'e Stoudemire, who suffered a lacerated left hand after punching a glass-encased fire extinguisher.

"Each game I just got to give it everything," Chandler said. "At this point, it doesn't matter, because if we continue to lose, we got to go home anyway. And I don't need that long of a rest."

No intent to injure

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Chandler had enough things to deal with the last couple of days. Seeing a replay of his hard back-pick on LeBron James in Game 1 wasn't on his list of priorities.

But he defended himself for the blindside screen that James said caused him to feel whiplash.

"I was trying to set a pick," Chandler said. "I wasn't trying to be dirty. I know it probably looked worse than it actually was. But my intention was never to hurt anybody. I appreciate LeBron's game. So I would never want to take him off the floor.

"You never ever want to see a player get hurt. And I don't want anybody to feel like I'm trying to hurt anybody out there, because that's not the goal."

Lin update

Jeremy Lin did some shooting yesterday and walked through some offensive sets in the shootaround. But he still hasn't scrimmaged or really tested his surgically repaired left knee.

Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Lin will be re-evaluated after they return to New York Tuesday. Lin said he might be able to return this series, perhaps for Game 4 Sunday.

"When he decides to play, I don't really know at this point," Woodson said. "We haven't run up and down in terms of being able to scrimmage. That's where the test is going to come. When he's got to cut and guard people and push, do things of that nature, that's the big test. We don't have time to practice like that. Basically, all he's done is drills and shot the ball a lot here as of late. Only time will tell."

Davis stiff, but he plays

Baron Davis' stiff back didn't prevent him from getting 12 points and six assists in 27 minutes, but he's concerned about it. Davis didn't play for 10 months with a herniated disc in his back before making his Knicks debut Feb. 20. He said he's "not close" to 100 percent now. "This definitely is a problem," he said. "But ain't nothing much I can do about it."