ATLANTA – The most famous foot in New York felt fine hours before its next test last night against the Hawks.
Marcus Camby, who made his Knick season debut at the Garden on Monday night, scoring 18 points with 10 rebounds, was looking for an encore dunkathon at the Philips Arena.
Camby was boosted by the fact his foot responded well from his 35-minute gargantuan performance in which he treated the rim like his own private chin-up bar.
Camby is battling plantar fasciaitis, an unpredictable ailment that can cause pain in an athlete for months before going away suddenly. Camby said earlier this week he expects to be in some pain all season. He benefited from coach Jeff Van Gundy calling off practice Tuesday.
“I felt a little sore [Tuesday], a little tired, but for the most part, the recovery has been great,” Camby said following yesterday’s morning shoot-around. “Not having a practice definitely was to my advantage.”
How Camby holds up in back-to-back situations will be key. The Knicks don’t play a back-to-back until Monday vs. Houston and Tuesday in Milwaukee.
“I don’t face that until next week – the schedule has been good to me this week, the games are spaced out,” Camby said.
Van Gundy plans on having Camby participate in all the team’s practices, though Glen Rice was allowed to sit them out last season, when he battled the same ailment. Van Gundy believes practicing is the only way to keep a player sharp.
Playing on adrenaline though still lacking conditioning, Camby registered six dunks in his debut, giving the Knicks an athletic element missing the first 14 games. The Hawks let him free on pick and rolls, and he darted to the basket for feeds that resulted in easy slams.
“They haven’t played me in a long time,” Camby said. “They have to retool and rethink. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and my teammates made terrific passes.”
In breaking the Atlanta press at midcourt, Camby handled the ball and tore strongly to the hole for two dunks. Camby expected Atlanta to at least make adjustments to prevent that from happening again last night.
Van Gundy said he’ll see how the game progressed, but Camby figured to play a big defensive role on Atlanta superstar Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who scored 26 points Monday.
Camby got the assignment down the stretch and threw Abdur-Rahim off his rhythm, forcing a traveling call with 1:30 left and Atlanta desperately needing a basket, down three.
“[Marcus] is very gifted,” Van Gundy said. “He’s got the feet of a guard and size of a center. It’s hard to find. Usually you find the size of a guard and feet of a center.”
Camby still hasn’t found his jump shot. He hoisted two air-balls on medium-range attempts Monday.
“I just didn’t have my legs under me when I took those shots,” Camby said. “I’m just trying to make a conscious effort of running the floor and get easy baskets in transition to get myself going.”
Camby worked well on the pick and roll with point guard Mark Jackson, whose minutes are climbing as Van Gundy is giving less time to backup Howard Eisley. Jackson had 11 assists. Eisley finally had a decent game Monday with five assists. Jackson and Eisley combined for 16 assists and two turnovers, keeping Charlie Ward on the bench for at least another game.
“Mark has been playing very well lately, extremely active defensively, for the most part, taking care of the ball well,” said Van Gundy. “I think Howard just needs to play with more self-assuredness, because I think he’s a good player. It depends on how Mark’s playing. He’s playing very well right now and has earned it.”
Said Camby of Jackson: “He’s a terrific passer. He’s able to find me in spots I’m comfortable with.”
Asked if he can register an 18-10 every night, Camby said, “I’m going to try. But I’m not a guy who bases my game on numbers.”