The Knicks may get one ailing player back tomorrow, power forward Josh Harrellson, to give them an even deeper bench. But rookie guard Iman Shumpert is an iffy proposition to play against the Cavaliers in the second-half opener.
Harrellson was cleared to practice today for the first time and likely will make his return against the Cavs. Harrellson broke his left wrist Jan. 22 against Denver. He’s missed 19 games, but Mike D’Antoni said he expects to thrust Harrellson back into the rotation despite the Knicks having turned their season around without him.
D’Antoni loves Harrellson’s strength as an interior defender and rebounder, and his ability to space the floor as a decent 3-point shooter. He could take time away from defensive stalwart Jared Jeffries, starter Amar’e Stoudemire and 3-point shooting ace Steve Novak, who has been the unsung hero during Linsanity.
The Knicks cancelled their 2 p.m. practice yesterday per league rules. Teams that play Thursday before the All-Star break aren’t permitted to practice the Monday after. Either the Knicks knew the rule and were trying to get a head start with encouragement from their players or they were unaware of the stringent nature of the rule. According to a team official, everyone showed up “optionally for treatment, weight-lifting and getting up shots.’’
Harrellson, averaging 18.5 minutes, 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds, can go full bore today while Shumpert has been cleared to practice limitedly. Suffering from knee tendinitis, Shumpert has a small chance of making his return tomorrow after missing three games. Shumpert’s perimeter defense was missed in two of the Knicks’ recent losses, to the Nets and Miami.
Bill Walker, who started for Carmelo Anthony during his injury stint, is still out with a sore elbow. Including Walker, D’Antoni has mulled an 11-to-12-man rotation. Because of the lockout schedule, teams were allowed to suit up 13 players until mid-February, but the NBA just extended the rule for the rest of the season.
The Knicks no longer are worried about depth.
“We have three guys coming back in the rotation, we’ll have 12 guys coming at you,’’ D’Antoni said. “We can be a heckuva lot better team than we are right now.’’
➤ Jeremy Lin talked about his decision to trademark the word “Linsanity’’ over All-Star Weekend to lessen bootleg products.
“Our team (agent Roger Montgomery) came up with the idea to trademark it,’’ Lin said. “The important thing is I don’t want to put on a facade or be someone I’m not, so the products are representative of me.’’ The original Linsanity website was created last year without Lin’s knowledge.