Worried about Eddy Curry? Yes, Mike D’Antoni has been there before.
Curry missed his third straight game tonight vs. Orlando, his left knee still swollen. A tender left knee cost Curry all but three games last season.
When asked if he was now getting worried, D’Antoni had to laugh. “You think I’d start now,” D’Antoni said. “I got to that point about three months ago.”
The hope is because he’s under 300 pounds, 55 less than last season, the knee will respond quicker to trauma. That’s the hope. The fact is, something seems chronically wrong with Curry’s left knee.
Curry claimed team doctors have never told him he has an arthritic knee, though he took arthritic medication last season. Curry huddled with Dr. Lisa Callahan and Knicks orthopedist Dr. Allen Answorth before the game
An MRI was taken last week on the West Coast and no structural damage was found. But his comeback is stalled at four games.
One of the reasons the Knicks gave when they reneged on an Allen Iverson offer was wanting to focus on building the offense around Curry. There were grand plans of starting him if he succeeded after his terrific debut in Indiana, scoring 10 points in 11 minutes.
But in the next three games, Curry’s rust showed. This layoff only retards the process. Curry was 1 of 5 in Jersey with 3 turnovers and 2 of 6 vs. Boston with 2 turnovers during which his frustration led to a flagrant foul, shoving Rajon Rondo in the back.
In Curry’s last game last Tuesday vs. the Lakers, Curry was 1 of 3 in the first half with 3 turnovers when he injured the knee, getting tripped by Nate Robinson. Curry doesn’t have a blocked shot in four games.
This whole emphasis on getting Curry back to his form three years ago has been at the expense of Serbian shotblocking center Darko Milicic, whose gotten a DNP in 8 of the last 9 games. Milicic told The Post in Sunday’s editions he could be “bleeping Michael Jordan in practice” and still not play.
***
Another guy who got away this summer was Jason Williams, now starting at point guard for Orlando with Jameer Nelson injured. Williams worked out for the Knicks in August and a source said he looked a step slow. Williams has looked very decent this season. “It’s tough to assess anybody in the summertime, he looked like Jason Williams after being a year off,” D’Antoni said. “He’s playing well for them…On George Karl saying the Knicks master plan of gearing up for 2010’s free agency without attending to their roster is unfair to D’Antoni, the Knicks coach said, “I got to write a check out to him now.”