With the injury-ravaged lifestyle the Knicks have led this season, their theme on a daily basis could be “Another One Bites the Dust.”
Except that wouldn’t even apply to Friday. After a pair of MRI exams on Amar’e Stoudemire and Kenyon Martin hours before the Knicks faced off with the Chris Paul-less Clippers at the Garden, the slogan became “Another Two Bite the Dust.”
Both Stoudemire and Martin were ruled out for “approximately two weeks,” the Knicks announced. The two big men were injured in the Knicks’ wipeout loss at Indiana Thursday, suffering left ankle injuries. Martin, who went down in the first half, was diagnosed with “a sprain and tendinitis” while Stoudemire suffered “a sprain and a bone bruise,” the team announced.
“They’re going to be out at least two weeks, both players,” said coach Mike Woodson, who said the loss means likely more time for Jeremy Tyler (14 minutes in Friday’s 109-95 loss to the Clippers) and possibly Cole Aldrich.
“It’s a big challenge,” Carmelo Anthony said. “We’ve been challenged all season long thus far. So it’s going to be a challenge without having them guys. Guys just have to be ready and prepared for that.”
Woodson has endured inordinate scrutiny this season. So he was hardly ruffled about a report of Anthony being upset with his defensive adjustments in the second half Thursday against the Pacers.
“We probably could have played some zone, but hell. they scored the first two buckets right off the bat to start the third quarter. To me, that was just effort,” Woodson said, responding to the criticisms reported in Friday’s Post. “Melo has that right to say that. We, as a group. we stunk. After that first quarter we were all awful. I mean, everybody had their hand in it.”
The Clippers got 29 points from ex-Knick Jamal Crawford. … The Clippers remain without Paul, who has a separated right shoulder. “Listen, without Chris we have to be ready every night,” said Clippers coach Doc Rivers. “We don’t have the luxury right now to show up and think we are going to win a game.”
Rivers already has lived through it. He returned to Boston where he won a title as a coach. So he has an idea what Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett will face next weekend in their return to Boston.
“That’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be crazy,” Rivers said, noting of his return, “that’s as emotional as I ever [have been] for a coach or anything. And that was an amazing night for me. It was awesome.”
Rivers said the pair were beloved in Boston “because they did it right and they did everything they could every night to win a basketball game. … Cities feel that. New York is like that. New York, they say white collar, it’s blue collar. You know what I mean? People see that. And they saw that in Kevin and Paul.”
The loss to the Clippers began an eight-game homestand for the Knicks.
“We’ve just got to take it one game at a time,” Woodson said. “I’ve said all along coming into this month, this month was very pivotal in terms of where we are and where we’re going as a team this season.”