LOS ANGELES — Raymond Felton’s hand injuries may finally force the Knicks guard to take a night off.
Felton sprained his right pinkie yesterday in the third quarter of the Knicks’ 100-94 loss to the Lakers during a scramble with L.A.’s Steve Nash for a loose ball.
Already playing with a bone bruise in each of his hands, Felton admitted his feel for the ball was off in the fourth quarter and he missed a series of runners in the lane. He finished with 10 points on 5-of-19 shooting from the field in 35 minutes, with six assists and no turnovers.
Felton hasn’t sat out a game despite the ailments, but the results were so bad in the fourth quarter yesterday (1-for-4), he may shut it down for one game.
“If it’s as tough in the fourth quarter when I couldn’t shoot the ball like I wanted to do, I’m not going to try to play,‘’ Felton said. “We’ll see. We’ll see what happens. I can’t answer that right now.’’
Felton has started to tail off in terms of his field-goal percentage as he has fallen to 39.5 percent. He also was ineffective getting touches for Carmelo Anthony, who took only three shots in the fourth quarter.
“I tried, but I couldn’t really use my hand like I wanted to,’’ Felton said.
* Steve Novak told The Post he blacked out for a couple of seconds after getting clocked by a Metta World Peace elbow as the Knicks forward went for a rebound in the fourth quarter. Novak crashed to the court and didn’t even realize he was hit in the head by World Peace’s elbow until told by a reporter. Novak, who took only two shots, may undergo some tests but doesn’t think he has a concussion.
* Marcus Camby made his return from a 12-game absence, playing 8:07, including the final 2:22 of crunch time after Tyson Chandler fouled out. Camby looked surprised on the bench when coach Mike Woodson put him in. Camby finished with four points and four rebounds but committed a key turnover with 1:07 remaining. “It’s like riding a bike,” Camby said. “You’ve to get right back on. The game’s a whole lot faster when you haven’t been out there as long as I haven’t been. It was a good first step.”
* In a surprise move, Woodson juggled the starting lineup, finally benching Ronnie Brewer and starting Kurt Thomas at power forward to match the Lakers’ size. The switch moved Anthony to the small forward slot. Brewer had started every game previously in the team’s three-guard alignment.
It was a condemnation on Brewer’s recent play. He had been scoreless in five of his last 10 games entering yesterday, when he again was scoreless but played only 8:18. He was 0-for-3, bricking a trey and getting blocked by Pau Gasol on a drive. With Iman Shumpert’s return edging closer, Brewer could see his playing time reduced dramatically.