The New York Knicks practiced at USC Saturday in preparation for Sunday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Yes, Phil Jackson is in L.A. and yes, he and Carmelo Anthony had themselves a nice little chat to clean the air. But let’s begin by talking about actual basketball stuff, shall we? Derrick Rose, who has missed the last two games with a back issue, participated fully in practice.
Hornacek said @drose looked good in practice today. Was able to participate in entire session. #Knicks
— Jonah Ballow (@jonahballow) December 10, 2016
Rose himself sounds optimistic: “I feel good. I feel like it’s a go.”
Find out what @drose had to say about returning to the floor tomorrow night. #Knicks pic.twitter.com/7B2D4ONOvu
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 10, 2016
Since the team is back in the spiritual hometown of The Machine, Marshall Plumlee took a minute to rib his veteran teammate:
Anyone know any good spots to eat in LA? Im asking for @SashaVujacic he says he doesn't know the area very well...
— Marshall Plumlee (@marshallplumlee) December 10, 2016
Sasha and Lakers head coach Luke Walton are gonna get drrrrrrrrrrunk tonight, baby!
OK, now Melo and Phil. The star forward gave a quick account of their peace summit:
“We had a little session. We talked. We had a conversation this morning. He said his peace. I said my peace. Two men spoke. He said what he had to say. I don’t want to tell you all what he said. The conversation was good — to hear his perspective on what happened, how it all went down.”
Melo also said that he talked to Kobe Bryant about how to handle Phil’s methods:
“[Kobe told me], ‘Keep on going, keep your head up and move. Don’t read into it too much.’ It’s something I’ve learned over the years, especially with Phil. He’s going to talk. Nobody could stop him.”
See what @carmeloanthony had to say at #Knicks practice today, unedited. pic.twitter.com/y2dtJIJGjt
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) December 10, 2016
Cool. Let’s all be done with this story now.