A plethora of injuries and poor play have left embattled Mike Woodson trying to juggle lineups and shuffle rotations. Playing a bigger Memphis team, he tried going big Saturday, and it didn’t work. With Beno Udrih struggling, he went with no point guard at times in the second half, and that didn’t work either.
“I was shuffling guys,’’ Woodson said after the Knicks’ 95-87 loss to the Grizzlies at the Garden. “Beno was slow, didn’t have much going for him, and I went with Iman [Shumpert], J.R. (Smith) and Tim [Hardaway Jr.]. Again, these guys, they’re not … they’re position players, and again, I don’t look at ones, twos and threes, but I expect those guys when they’re handling the basketball to be able to make plays and get us in our offense, and we struggled in that area.’’
Asked if he thought the 8-18 Knicks would benefit from having a set lineup, Carmelo Anthony was noncommittal.
“I don’t know,’’ Anthony said. “I don’t think that’s for me to answer and talk about that. At this point we’re going with what’s on the board. If it’s on the board that it’s a big lineup that day, then that’s what we’re going with. And if it’s on the board that we’re going with a small lineup, then that’s what we’re going to go with. We got to be able to adjust to that.’’
In his second game back, Tyson Chandler appeared winded and had eight points on 2-of-7 shooting with just six rebounds. He played 33 minutes after logging 37 on Wednesday in his return from a broken right fibula that cost him six weeks.
“I’m getting there. I’m battling,’’ Chandler said. “I’m trying to come back, trying to get my conditioning right, trying to get my timing right, and my legs under me and all that good stuff while trying to stop whoever’s in front of me.’’
Shumpert, who shot just 1-of-7 for two points, is 6-of-42 from the field over his last eight games.
“I ain’t never been in a slump before. I don’t really know how to handle it,’’ Shumpert said. “I’ve got to do a better job of not letting it affect the rest of my game.” … Hardaway Jr. banged knees with Jamaal Franklin in the first half and was limping after the game, but said he’ll play Monday. … Metta World Peace doesn’t expect to have his knee drained, but it appears he will miss Monday’s game and possibly more time as well.