The Knicks had to play Tuesday night without their center; but they finally got back their injured point guard. Raymond Felton was back in the lineup against Detroit after a two-week absence because of a right groin strain, and helped lift the Knicks to an 89-85 win, their third in four games.
Felton — who missed 12 of the previous 13 games — finished with 12 points and six assists in 30:36 minutes. He had four turnovers and more than a little fatigue down the stretch, from the long layoff and a lingering cold. However, he sparked an 11-0 run that snapped a third-quarter tie and gave the Knicks just enough cushion to hold on.
“My legs are fine. I’m just tired, weak, still sick. But I’m all right. We got a win, that’s the main thing,’’ Felton said. “I felt good. I just wanted to be aggressive. My legs feel fine, through all the rehab and conditioning that the trainers have been putting me through. They’ve done a great job getting my leg together, keeping me in shape. I lost weight as well, so it’s been good. I felt good out there.’’
The Knicks hit five baskets in that 11-0 spurt, with Felton setting up three of them and drilling a fourth himself. With the score knotted at 49, Felton fed Kenyon Martin for an alley-oop. On the next possession, he dove to the floor for a loose ball and heaved to Carmelo Anthony in the left corner for a 3-pointer, and after a Pistons turnover, Felton found Anthony for another from behind the arc.
By the time he hit a 16-foot fadeaway of his own, he sent Detroit scurrying into a timeout and the Knicks to a 60-49 cushion. It swelled to 17, and even though it shrunk to 1, they held on.
“I’m happy to have Ray back. The way he runs the pick-and-roll, he finds us and trusts us to make shots,’’ said Anthony, who had 34 points on an efficient 13-of-24 shooting, a beneficiary of opens looks and Felton’s passes. “He has the ball, he’s the point guard. He facilitates. He makes things happen for himself and the big on the pick-and-rolls, and he’s finding us on the perimeter.’’
Felton had struggled with not only his weight, but hamstring, hip and groin woes. He missed four straight game in November with back and hip injuries, then six more last month with a hamstring. His comeback bid Dec. 23 in Orlando lasted just 17 minutes before the groin cost him six more games.
Fortunately for the Knicks, Felton came through Tuesday healthy. Tired, after backup Beno Udrih didn’t play a single second in the second half, but unhurt.
“He played 30 minutes,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. “I thought he was very fatigued coming down the stretch, but Beno couldn’t go. His knee was bothering him. I didn’t feel comfortable putting Toure’ [Murry] in that position, playing in crunch time. We have to live with this, and Raymond will get in game shape, and we’ll go from there.’’