HARDAWAY’S ON WAY BACK
AILING GUARD INCHES CLOSER TO RETURN TO KNICKS LINE UP
Tim Hardaway Jr. is nearly back. The Knicks shooting guard was a full practice participant Tuesday for the first time since he was shut down with a stress reaction in his left leg, even scrimmaging full court and then sticking around to put up extra shots in a workout with an assistant coach.
Hardaway is expected to miss his 20th straight game Wednesday, when the Knicks host the Bulls, but he hasn’t been ruled out for Friday at Minnesota or Sunday at home against the Pelicans.
“I don’t anticipate it’s going to be [Wednesday],” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “But after that, we’ll see.”
Hardaway said he felt great after practice, but still avoided putting a specific timetable on his return until he is reevaluated by doctors. “I think I’m coming back when I’m confident. Right now, we’re close,” Hardaway said. “But it doesn’t matter what I think, it matters what the doctors say and what my training staff and people want me to do after I get the news.” The Knicks are 8-11 without Hardaway, the team’s second-leading scorer, with 17.8 points per game to go with 4.2 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Hardaway last played Nov. 29 in a win over the Heat and is itching to get back on the court after only being able to watch for six weeks. “It’s tough, it’s tough,” he said. “Especially on our bigs and on our guard play. Just wish I was out there helping them out each and every possession. Health is first. I just want to make sure this is all taken care of. It looks like it’s going very well. Once I get some news, I’m pretty sure you guys will know.” Hardaway returned to practice in a limited fashion Saturday in Dallas, but he said he had no restrictions Tuesday and the injury wasn’t on his mind. “Once you got your teammates talking trash and all the competitive spirit is flowing and people want to win ballgames, you kind of don’t worry about it,” Hardaway said. “The game comes back to you. Everything is second nature, and it makes you go out there and want to win the drill.”
You don’t have to beg Knicks forward Doug McDermott to be more aggressive offensively.
His coaches have delivered the message, and McBuckets is ready to answer the call.
“Definitely I got to be more aggressive. That’s on me,” he said Tuesday night at the 19th Annual Knicks Bowl charity event. “The coaches harp on [it] all the time. Sometimes I’m a little too unselfish, and there’s times where I need to be selfish and try and score more.”
Through the first 40 games of the season, the 26year-old is averaging 8.3 points on 46 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the 3-point arc in 24 minutes. His shooting has been key off the bench.
But with second-leading scorer Tim Hardaway Jr. still sidelined, even McDermott admits he can do more to pick up the slack.
“You don’t have to tell me to shoot more twice, so I’m definitely going to be more aggressive,” he told The Post.
Those shots have fallen with less consistency of late, as McDermott is converting just 38 percent of his attempts in the last eight games. Opponents are starting to hone in on his tendency to move without the ball and position himself for open kick-outs.
“I started off the year so great,” he said. “I think teams are starting to game plan [for me] a little more — taking away my outside shot. I need to find ways to be more effective out there.”
His recent struggles should not deter him. In games in which he has taken eight or more shots, the Knicks have gone 11-6.
And his shots will eventually go down. The Creighton product certainly hasn’t lost confidence, as he buried a buzzer-beating 3 to send a game against the Heat into overtime on Friday.
“I just want to win and I think it’s all going to start clicking,” he said.