Andrea Bargnani, in breaking his silence, showed off his new black elbow brace, admitted his injury was “terrible’’ and said a timetable for his return from rehab is tricky because the ligament is completely torn.
But even when Bargnani does return, it appears Knicks coach Mike Woodson has moved on. Woodson said the new-old small-ball lineup is likely here to stay — which means Bargnani becomes a bench player at best. The small lineup has Carmelo Anthony at Bargnani’s position at power forward and two point guards, Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni. It was the unit that thrived during last season’s 54-28 gem.
With Thursday’s 117-86 victory over the Cavaliers, the Knicks are now 4-0 since Bargnani took a bad tumble eight days ago and was ruled out “indefinitely.’’
“The small lineup, we know that that works,’’ Woodson said. “Hey I don’t know if we’ll go away from it this time.’’
Bargnani spoke for the first time and said he doesn’t want to commit to a return date. An elbow surgeon interviewed by The Post said usually 3-to-6 weeks of therapy will do the trick.
Bargnani said his doctors are talking to him more cautiously but confirmed there’s no plans for surgery.
“I have no idea [on a return date],’’ Bargnani said. “It’s a ligament broke and you see how it heals and how strong the arm gets. You got to make sure it’s 100 percent. I really don’t know the timeline.’’
The elbow surgeon told The Post usually only baseball players and javelin throwers get the surgery — which could put him out one year.
Woodson said he knows Bargnani will not be playing in the next week. His season came to an abrupt halt after faking a shot, driving the lane and charging into two Sixers as he leapt for a dunk. The fall was dramatic and violent.
While Barnani stayed in, he knew soon after the game he might be out for a while. He had a similar right-elbow injury last season with Toronto that kept him out six weeks.
“It’s a similar injury to last year,’’ Bargnani said. “The feelings I had four, five hours after the game was pretty similar. I wasn’t surprised at all.’’
But Bargnani was ticked. He hadn’t missed a game until the Philadelphia crash.
“It’s terrible, just terrible but what can you do,’’ said Bargnani, who was the Knick second-leading scorer at 13.7 points. “Because it’s similar to last year, it’s even more frustrating. It’s terrible sitting out — the worst.’’
The Knicks, though, have thrived without him, seemingly with better ball movement. It may not be a coincidence as Bargnani has been too much of a ball-stopper this season and not enough of a dangerous 3-point shooter.
Woodson said he thinks the team wasn’t healthy enough to develop chemistry when Bargnani was playing.
“I know big lineups and like Bargnani at that spot,’’ Woodson said. “That was the reason to bring him over [from Toronto]. But we haven’t had that chance to have that core group develop some chemistry. We haven’t had a chance to do that.’’
It looks like Woodson is done trying, even when Bargnani gets back. The Knicks only had 10 healthy bodies for Thursday’s game and that goal of some day getting “a full deck’’ with all 15 players is a pipe dream. Meanwhile, the Knicks are thriving as guys such as Jeremy Tyler and Cole Aldrich are filling in with good minutes.
“We played great the last three games,’’ Bargnani said. “We got to keep going with the rhythm.’’
Tim Hardaway Jr.’s 29 points was a career high, as he made 11-of-17 shots. He scored 18 points in the fourth. He hit six 3-pointers, which tied Nate Robinson and Toney Douglas for the Knicks’ single-game rookie record for most triples. Hardaway has now posted double figures in four straight games.
The Knicks were down to 10 men against the Cavaliers Thursday night at the Garden. Iman Shumpert missed his first game of the season, with a shoulder sprain. Kenyon Martin sat out with ankle trouble after reinjuring it in the first half against the Celtics Tuesday.
Amar’e Stoudemire, who has missed the last two weeks, did not make it back to meet his timetable and could miss Saturday against the Heat, too. Jeremy Tyler continued to look good in their absences. He had eight points on 4-of-6 shooting with six rebounds in 21 minutes.