All aboard! It’s the Knicks’ pain train
BOSTON — Even if Celtics star Rajon Rondo were to be suspended for Friday’s game, the Knicks proved two nights earlier in San Antonio that their likelihood of winning doesn’t hinge greatly on which players are out of an opponent’s lineup.
The more pressing issue for the Knicks will be whether Carmelo Anthony (sore left knee) returns after the $124 million forward sat out Wednesday’s blowout loss to the Spurs, who won easily without their top four players.
The Knicks (4-20) have listed both Anthony and J.R. Smith, who also didn’t dress in San Antonio due to a heel issue, as questionable as they look to avoid extending their spiraling losing streak to 11 games.
That would be one shy of the single-season franchise record of 12 consecutive defeats late in the 1984-85 campaign.
Amid the turmoil of infighting and teammates reportedly complaining about his game, Anthony stressed on Wednesday that undergoing knee surgery would be a “last, last option.” But first-year coach Derek Fisher indicated that the lingering injury — which the seven-time All-Star has been dealing with since the second game of the season — has affected both Anthony’s game and his interaction with his teammates.
“I think overall it’s impacting him quite a bit just in terms of being able to do some things out there physically,” Fisher said Wednesday night in San Antonio. “I think more important than even in the game is on non-game days — limiting practice time and limiting his ability to keep some rhythm and cohesion with his teammates. . . . I’ve seen it before happen with teammates that have major injuries over the course of the season or things that have kept them off the practice floor. And it makes it difficult for the team to bond.
“He ’s fought through it a lot. Hopefully by Friday he feels better. But most i mportant is his health overall. So whatever decision he needs to make, to make sure that’s a priority, we support that 100%.”
Rondo, who is expected to be one of the league’s top free agents next summer, posted his third triple-double of the season on Wednesday against Charlotte with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. The Boston point guard also received a technical foul for an elbow to Lance Stephenson’s jaw in the third quarter, although Rondo charged the Brooklyn product with flopping on the play.
“He weighs about 60 more pounds than me, but that’s part of his game,” Rondo said Wednesday night. “I am strong, but I don’t think I was that strong on that play in particular to knock him down.” Like Anthony, Smith could miss his second straight game on Friday with a sore heel that Fisher said the guard “banged” Tuesday in New Orleans.
X-rays for both Smith and Iman Shumpert (right index finger) came back negative following Wednesday’s loss.
“I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I know I looked down and it was popped out of place and I just pulled it, got it back in place,” Shumpert said. “I’ll be fine. It’s sore, but I think I’ll be all right.”
Amar’e Stoudemire played a season-low 16:49 against the Spurs in the second of backto-back games, but stressed “when the game got out of hand, that’s when we took it easy on the minutes.”
FISHING WITH POP: Fisher, on talking with Spurs coach Gregg Popovich before and after Wednesday’s loss: “Defending world champions, even with their main guys out, they know who they are, they have an identity. . . . There’s just a mutual respect as competitors. He means a lot to me personally in terms of what he stands for and the way he’s helped develop what this organization has become. I never played for him. I have very few regrets because I’ve had a wonderful life, but he’s definitely a coach that I’ve always thought about the fact that I haven’t had the opportunity to play for him.”