NBA

Healthy Randolph to debut when Knicks take on Magic

Anthony Randolph went down with a sprained left ankle last Tuesday in practice, and the Knicks originally said he would be out for two weeks. But there Randolph was yesterday, going through a full practice with his teammates at the Knicks’ Westchester facility. So what happened?

“That’s for them older vets,” Randolph said with a laugh after practice. “I’m still young, so I bounce back more quickly.”

The 6-foot-11 forward will make his regular-season debut in a Knicks uniform tonight against the Magic. It has been almost 10 months since Randolph played in a game that counted after he missed the final 47 games of last season with the Warriors when he tore a ligament and fractured a bone in the same ankle Jan. 8 against the Kings.

Coach Mike D’Antoni said Randolph would definitely be in the rotation tonight, but he had yet to determine how he was going to work Randolph in.

“Somewhere, somehow, I’ve got to play him,” D’Antoni said. “We’ll figure it out. It’s something I’ve got to look at and see how I can get him in there because I do want to get him in there.”

Randolph, whom the Knicks acquired along with Ronny Turiaf and Kelenna Azubuike from Golden State in a sign-and-trade for David Lee during the offseason, is a tantalizing talent. But he also is 21 years old and prone to inconsistency, as he proved during an up-and-down preseason in which he averaged 10.5 points and four rebounds in eight games.

“He’s obviously a very athletic, talented player,” D’Antoni said. “He’s been out a little bit, been a little up-and-down during the preseason, and hopefully it’s enough. If it’s up, his minutes will get more, and if it’s down, it will take a little bit longer.

“But at age 21 and full of talent, it’s a little bit of a project, but something we’ll work on.”

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As The Post reported yesterday, the Knicks did not sign Wilson Chandler to a contract extension before yesterday’s deadline, meaning he will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Turiaf (back) was held out of yesterday’s practice as a precaution, but he will play tonight. Eddy Curry, who has been out because of a strained right hamstring, was expected to return to full-contact practice yesterday, but he again worked out on his own. D’Antoni said Curry was closer than Azubuike (left knee) to returning to practicing with contact, but he did not know when.

Along with Knicks great Patrick Ewing, who is an assistant coach for Orlando, former Knicks Quentin Richardson and Chris Duhon will be in uniform for the Magic. It will be Duhon’s first appearance against the Knicks after playing for them the past two years.

tbontemps@nypost.com