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The Knicks are back home to face the Pistons tonight. They're going to be at home a LOT in the coming weeks. 10 of 13 remaining January games are at The Madison. That's good, hypothetically, though only if the Knicks are going to start treating home like home. One thing that should (one would think) help the Knicks get comfortable and in sync is a return to full health. Tonight's injury report may or may not represent progress on that front:
The Knicks, though, likely will have point guard Raymond Felton, who is probable to play with a right groin injury.
That's a big "may or may not" because "probable to play with a groin injury" reads to me like "Felton is still kinda hurt and is returning too early again and may just go out there and struggle until he gets injured anew". I hope that's not the case. Healthy Raymond Felton could help normalize the Knicks' rotation (though hopefully not at Toure' Murry's expense. He deserves more time.) and reinvigorate the pick-and-roll game. Sub-healthy Raymond Felton rarely helps.
Speaking of the pick-and-roll game, the respiratory infection that aborted Tyson Chandler's night in Dallas has persisted, and he's likely out tonight, listed as "doubtful". Iman Shumpert's caught the bug, too, but he's not on the injury report. From Scott Cacciola's game recap the other night:
In the locker room after the game, Shumpert asked for cold medication. He was under the weather, and he blamed Tyson Chandler, who had left the game in the first quarter with an upper respiratory infection. Specifically, Shumpert blamed Chandler's children. "Kids got all them germs," Shumpert said.
He's not wrong, and I hope that if the Knicks manage to make the playoffs this year, Tyson quarantines himself from his doorknob-kissing little offspring for a few weeks. Or at least stops letting them spit in his mouth. Feel better, big friend.
7:30 tip tonight. Game thread'll be up a little before then. Hope you're having a splendid day. What's for lunch?