GOOD NEWS: Tyson Chandler, speaking at practice yesterday, believes fellow injured Knick Carmelo Anthony is “in a good place” after getting his knee drained. (John Chapple)
LOS ANGELES — Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler are expected to rest their knees today vs. the Clippers at Staples Center and a matinee blowout could be in the offing. So is an 0-4 start to their West Coast trip.
Nevertheless, amid this disaster, there is also a sense of relief that Anthony is in Los Angeles — his mind relieved of anxiety, his right knee relieved of fluid.
Anthony practiced lightly yesterday with the team at UCLA, testing his knee, and doesn’t appear ready to go just three days after getting his right knee drained of soft-tissue fluid. Neither does Chandler, meaning a national TV audience will see a Knicks starting frontcourt of Kurt Thomas, Kenyon Martin and Chris Copeland.
But as important as Anthony’s drainage was the discovery no long-term articular cartilage damage was found, which likely means no offseason arthroscopic surgery and a small chance of the fluid returning.
Anthony left the UCLA practice facility before reporters were let in, but Chandler vowed his teammate is a new man with a new knee.
“He’s in a good place,’’ Chandler said. “When you don’t know what’s going on and the doctors diagnose you, and you get the problems solved, you feel more at ease. I think he’s more at ease than anything.’’
A happy Anthony is an effective Anthony, and since he collapsed in Cleveland two weeks ago, he has been a misery on the court. When he last was with his teammates, Wednesday night in Denver, it was the lowest moment of his Knicks career. A sore-kneed Anthony had a terrible outing on both ends of the court, his former Nuggets routed his Knicks and he quit on the game early in the third quarter. He was booed all night and jeered with chants of “Where is Melo?’’ and “Who needs Melo?’’ in the fourth quarter.
Who needs Melo? The Knicks do. Perhaps he gives it a whirl to close out the trip tomorrow in Utah, but as coach Mike Woodson said in Portland, he may have to be “rehabbed.’’
In fact, the Knicks flew in Dr. Lisa Callahan, their medical director, to monitor the knee-impaired Anthony and Chandler. The Knicks have listed Chandler and Anthony as questionable for today but they may be a longshot for tomorrow’s trip finale as well.
“Melo is a scorer,’’ Chandler said. “He’s passionate about what he does. He wasn’t himself. He’s been banged up. We’ve had a long journey — playoffs, the Olympics, the season, All-Star break, to now. It’s a lot of basketball. I talked to him before basketball. Now is a good time to get really right for this grind we’re about to go through.’’
Though the Knicks are 0-3 on the road trip and could fall into a first-place tie in the Atlantic Division with the Nets today, there is hope the worst will soon be over.
“I feel like Melo is fully healed,’’ Chandler said. “He’ll be back in the next couple of games. I’ll be back in the next couple of games. We won with this lineup at the beginning of the year. That’s when we went on our tear. No reason we can’t get right back to it.’’
“I have great faith in the team,’’ Chandler added. “We have the personnel to do special things this year. I still believe it. It’s a matter of us coming together. Some things have to change and we’re addressing the problems.’’
The Knicks (38-25) are exactly a .500 team since mid-December after beginning the season 18-5. Anthony was an MVP candidate at the time, but his play has slipped noticeably the past month since his knee became an issue, raising the question of whether he should have had the procedure done earlier.
“Players know their bodies,’’ Woodson said. “You can’t sit there and second-guess the guy. This is the time he decided to do it. We have to live with it and keep it moving.’’
Woodson said he conducted yesterday’s walkthrough not expecting Anthony or Chandler to go against the Clippers.
“Yes, we went through shootaround thinking that [they won’t play],’’ Woodson said. “We got these [other] guys in uniform ready to play. [Anthony] shot a little bit. He did some range of motion things. They’re working on his core and strength in his legs.’’
Chandler admits he has to think long term.
“All those things you have to weigh and take into consideration,’’ Chandler said. “I have to make a decision for the long haul. If I feel great, I’ll go out there.’’