LONDON — Knicks coach Mike Woodson swears Rasheed Wallace will return this season but couldn’t give an answer when. Wallace, out since Dec. 13, will miss Thursday’s game against the Pistons, the team he won an NBA title with.
He has a stress reaction in his left foot that Knicks doctors fear could turn into a stress fracture if he comes back too soon, according to sources. A stress fracture likely would end his season. According to an ESPN New York.com report, the Knicks are getting more fearful he could be done for the season.
But Woodson said yesterday he hasn’t had any conversations with Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald about signing a free agent such as Kenyon Martin. Wallace was scheduled to start running this week, but that hasn’t yet happened. Woodson originally thought Wallace was returning after the West Coast trip Jan. 1.
“He’ll be back, but when, I don’t know,” Woodson said. “We’re gradually trying to get him back where he can run again so he can get back in a uniform. But when, we don’t know when yet.”
Wallace won’t talk about injury, repeatedly referring reporters to Dr. Lisa Callahan.
* Raymond Felton took the brace off his right pinkie yesterday, practiced limitedly for the first time at the O2 Arena and said he plans to return Jan. 26 in Philadelphia.
Felton is trying to convince the Knicks medical staff to return the game before in Boston but said he thinks it’s a long shot.
Despite Felton’s desire to play, the Knicks medical staff calls the shots and a final X-ray in a week will determine his availability. Felton fractured his pinkie on Christmas in Los Angeles, and the Knicks have sputtered without his penetration. The original timetable was a four-to-six week rehab.
“I am trying to get them to have me play in Boston but it looks like Philly in Philly,’’ Felton said. “We don’t know if it’s totally healed. We need one more X-ray, but it’s pretty much healed.’’
Felton also said the staff is allowing him to “mess around’’ for the practice but that he was not allowed to face contact.
* Amar’e Stoudemire said he would love more touches in the offense, but he is more concerned with his improved defense.
In the Knicks’ 100-87 victory over the Hornets Sunday, Stoudemire finally looked limber, scoring off two spin moves in the post. He finished with 12 points and three rebounds in 23 minutes.
“I worked extremely hard this summer on my post game and it’s an area we can definitely take advantage of,’’ Stoudemire said. ‘But we’ve been playing well so far this season. I don’t want to change it. The team is winning. So my main focus is defense.”
* One NBA executive said one day London could have an NBA team.
“If there’s going to be an NBA team in Europe, it’s going to be here first,’’ he said. “This is where the money is.’’