Jamal Crawford, who makes his Garden return tonight as a Warrior, said Knicks brass should have rid themselves of Stephon Marbury before training camp began.
“Honestly, everybody there thought it would be handled before the season started, one way or the other,” Crawford told the San Francisco Chronicle last night before facing the Cavs. “And now it’s continuing to go [on]. It needs to be resolved one way or the other, for sure. It wasn’t really a distraction because we were winning, you know what I mean? We’ve had distractions in the past, so to us, that wasn’t like a real distraction. Steph remained professional. He never blew up at the team.”
MORE: Fine, Suspension Precursor To Final Mar-burial
MORE: Complete Knicks Coverage
Crawford will face the carcass that is now the Knicks. It got so bad yesterday, the club’s assistant coaches were forced into scrimmaging with the team, down to just seven bodies following the Crawford and Zach Randolph trades.
Assistants Phil Weber (North Carolina State), Kenny Atkinson (Richmond), Dan D’Antoni (Marshall) and Herb Williams (Ohio State) all competed, though most of the scrimmage was half-court. Mike D’Antoni has been suffering from a severe bad back and could not participate.
Marbury was suspended and not there. New acquisition Tim Thomas returned to Los Angeles to gather his clothes and will be back in time for tonight’s game. Cuttino Mobley still is not with the team because of his undergoing heart tests, an issue that jeopardizes his career.
Nate Robinson can’t run because of a sore groin. And Chris Duhon sat out with back soreness, though he will play.
Jared Jeffries returned to practice, but only for non-contact drills. He’s probably a week to 10 days from making his season debut from a broken fibula.
Robinson, who practiced a bit, likely will miss his second straight game. “If I can’t run fully, I won’t play,” Robinson said.
Their only two healthy guards are Duhon and Anthony Roberson. Quentin Richardson has started at shooting guard and he’s suffering from a bruised forearm. Also injured are Danilo Gallinari (back) and Eddy Curry (knee), whose return to practice is unknown.