The Knicks are practicing today, which seems smart because "practice makes perfect". Not sure why more teams don't practice. Anyway, the reporters in attendance shared some injury updates that may or may not be of use to us.
See, cause like, there's this from Jonah Ballow:
D'Antoni says Melo probably will not play on SUN, JR Smith & Baron Davis could dress & be available against DAL
#Knicks
But then there's this from Frank Isola (who just can't report news without a little jab. What biting wit! This guy sure does tell it like it is.):
No Melo, no Baron & no J.R. vs Mavs. They all might play vs Nets. No offense, but me, Jerome Jordan, Novak, Lin & Spike Lee could beat Nets
Slightly different reports, though they're obviously reconcilable. It seems like we can expect Baron and Earl to be in attendance and maybe even in uniform, but probably not play (along with Carmelo Anthony). I suppose it makes sense to hold Earl out until he's had a practice (and it doesn't sound like he's with the team today), though if the Knicks come out shooting on Sunday the way they did last night, I could totally see an exasperated D'Antoni just tossing him out there to try and sink some threes.
Take the jump for a little more on Baron.
Davis is apparently back to scrimmaging, which is good. He played three-on-three today with a motley cast of characters. Al Iannazzone:
This 3 on 3 does not feature 6 nba players. It's Baron, Bibby, Douglas, Jerome Jordan, Allan Houston and basketball ops guy Chris Bernard.
Excellent. Allan looks good, in case you were wondering. Gonna need him to be sharp for that Shooting Stars competition.
Looking past Sunday, Iannazzone's under the impression that the Knicks might have everybody-- Baron, Melo, Earl-- except for Josh Harrellson ready by Wednesday. That'd be cool, though I'm done believing reports about Baron's readiness until I actually see him on the floor doing stuff.
Harrellson, by the way, will get x-rays over the All-Star break, and will hopefully be ready to go once that's over, according to Jonah Ballow. Don't be surprised to learn that Harrellson's wrist bones are even sturdier than they were originally, nor that Harrellson's muscle tissue is actually man jerky.
So, I think that covers everybody, right? It does sound like New York'll be pretty ill-equipped to face the Mavs on Sunday. That one has the potential to get ugly if the Knicks look anything like they did last night.