CLEVELAND — Not again.
Knicks starting point guard Raymond Felton pulled his left hamstring again, aggravating an injury that’s dogged him since training camp.
Felton admitted he’s unlikely to go Wednesday against the Bulls and could sit out for a few games — again.
Felton had a hamstring strain in preseason, never fully recovered, then pinched a nerve in his left hip because he was overcompensating. Felton sat out four straight games to recover from that injury.
“The way I feel right now, I have no chance [for Wednesday],’’ Felton said.
Felton pulled his hamstring after trying to push the ball in the third quarter. He sat out the last 18 minutes in the Knicks’ 109-94 loss to the Cavaliers Tuesday night.
Felton is being coaxed to rest by the medical staff.
“That’s what I’m hearing,’’ Felton said. “That’s the advice I’m getting. We’ll see. If I can’t go out there and play and perform, it’s not good for me to be out there. But I’m a warrior and I want to be out there with my teammates [to] fight out of this slump we’re in. If I can’t be 100 percent — which I haven’t been, but I’m trying — maybe I just need to sit down.’’
Felton said he could have come back too quickly, during the West Coast trip. “It’s just me,’’ Felton said. “I like to play. Now it’s biting me in the behind right now.’’
Amar’e Stoudemire, who scored 15 points, will attempt to play his first back-to-back this season Wednesday night after logging 27 minutes against the Cavs.
Kenyon Martin is expected to return. … Chris Smith visited the Knicks locker room after the game. He’s playing an hour away in the D-League with Erie.
Coach Mike Woodson started Metta World Peace in Martin’s absence, giving him his first start as a Knick. Woodson has continually passed on starting World Peace this season and only last week he was out of the rotation for two straight games. He scored two points and grabbed two rebounds in 20 minutes.
World Peace has been even keel regarding his limited minutes, saying Friday he is only “thinking about winning.’’
He said the two knee drains he has undergone has not been a factor in his spotty playing time.
“I thought in both games, the Orlando game as well, he stayed ready,’’ Woodson said before the game. “That’s what pros have to do. Again, you can’t play 14-15 guys. You can’t sit and sulk because the coach hadn’t played you.
“Because then you compound things, and he was ready to play and that to me is a good sign. That’s why I’m putting him in the lineup tonight.’’