Knox makes his return, but doesn’t last for long

Knicks rookie lottery pick Kevin Knox got a big ovation when he checked in with 9:48 left in the first quarter Monday night. Almost immediately he made an impact. Enes Kanter tipped a ball loose and Knox stole it from Antonio Blakeney and glided in for a fast-break dunk with 8:50 to go.

That was his highlight after coming back from a seven-game, 16-day absence. Knicks coach David Fizdale played Knox five minutes in the f irst half and let him watch the second half and the two overtimes.

He’ll be rolled out in Atlanta on Wednesday.

“It felt good, coach told me before the game he’d put me in for a little bit so I was expecting that,’’ Knox said. “I felt good after the dunk. I felt good now. I’m going to keep progressing from here.’’

The doctors cleared Knox to play Monday despite Fizdale’s fears he didn’t have a five-on-five scrimmage — just a three-onthree session Saturday — under his belt. The Post reported exclusively Thursday the Knicks were targeting Monday’s game versus the Bulls for his return.

“If the doctors say he’s available, I’m not going to f ight them,’’ Fizdale said. Knox looked fine on the fast break. “I felt good. I got the steal, pushed it, fast break, felt no pain, no nothing,’’ Knox said. “I knew I was going to get up and dunk. I wasn’t going to lay it in.’’

Knox believes he’ll be 100 percent sharp shortly.

“My first game back after missing seven games, there’s going to be rust at f irst,’’ Knox said. “I want to keep my conditioning and play as hard as I can. I don’t want to do too much offensively but I want to keep playing defense and let the offense come and see the flow of the game.’’

➤ Knicks veteran guard Courtney Lee said he’s responding to an injection to calm an inflamed nerve in his neck and will meet with doctors in a week to see if he can be cleared for practice. Lee hasn’t played in the preseason, hasn’t played in the regular season and hasn’t talked much.

In his first comments in three weeks, Lee called the mysterious injury “something I wouldn’t wish on anyone” and couldn’t set a time he thinks he’ll make his season debut.

Lee, 33, described it as “spasms, there’s a strain, it’s irritated, an inflamed nerve and a little bit of whiplash.’’

Lee hurt the neck after a hard Ron Baker foul during practice put him into a stanchion. He came back to practice late in preseason and took another hit and has been out since.

“I’m assuming my body wasn’t ready for contact,’’ Lee said.