The Knicks got a double dose of bad injury news yesterday with Carmelo Anthony and Baron Davis sitting out practice, and both listed as doubtful for tonight’s game against the Pistons at Madison Square Garden.
Davis missing his first practice opportunity in a week is concerning, despite coach Mike D’Antoni’s refusal to call it a setback. Meanwhile, Anthony hopes to play after missing the last two with ankle, thumb and wrist injuries. He admitted the ankle is worse than he thought, and he’ll test it in a rare home shootaround, possibly scheduled for his benefit.
“My goal is to make it back [tonight]. If I can’t, I can’t. But then I’ll definitely try to come back [Thursday],’’ Anthony said. “If we were winning, I’d try to take my time. But right now I want to try and push it and see what I can do.
“My wrist and my thumb really calmed down big-time. I think my ankle is a little bit worse than what I thought it was. Playing on it for that week really didn’t help at all. It kind of set me back a little bit as far as coming back. If I would have taken some time off, maybe I wouldn’t be in the situation I’m in right now.’’
After missing the Jan. 14 loss to the Thunder with a sprained right ankle, Anthony returned to play the next six, and shot 32 percent — 17.9 percent from 3-point range — before being shut down last Thursday.
After participating in team scrimmages for the first time last Monday, Davis was sidelined for his next practice chance. When asked if he had a minute to discuss his status, Davis replied, “No.”
“I think he’s got a little issue, but nothing more than he needed one more day,” D’Antoni said. “He’ll practice [tomorrow], and then we’ll see what happens. If he’s rusty, he’s rusty. He’s going to have to get his rust off in the games.’’
Amar’e Stoudemire is hoping the duo can return sooner rather than later.
“We’ve got to get ready to go,” he said. “Right now we can’t afford to lose any more games. It’s a long season. A lot of us are banged-up, a little sore. But the sooner we can get our guys back the better, so hopefully they get back soon.’’