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Curry expects to play tonight when Knicks face Spurs
By MARK HALE
Last Updated: 2:27 PM, March 10, 2010
Posted: 2:19 AM, March 10, 2010
<!-- context: -->Tonight, Eddy Curry will be feeling some butterflies. Because it's been a while since he even has been active for a game, let alone played in one.
With 19 games to go, the Knicks' perpetually injured big man is set to return to action in San Antonio tonight.
Curry hasn't played since Dec. 17, missing 38 straight games, thanks in part to coach Mike D'Antoni's decision not to play him but mainly to the left knee surgery Curry underwent in January.
"Feeling pretty good. Just go out there [tonight] and see what I can do," Curry said after practice yesterday. "[I'm] a little bit nervous. I haven't played in so long. But I'm looking forward to the opportunity."
WALSH WILL BE WATCHING
Curry is averaging just 3.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 8.9 minutes this season, and it's pretty much an unknown what he can offer now. When D'Antoni was asked yesterday what his expectation was on what Curry could give the Knicks and also how much he would look to play him, the coach replied, "No idea and no idea."
"With a lot of these guys, we'll just kind of feel it out and see how he goes and he'll tell me and I'll look at it," D'Antoni said. "I do want to play him and keep amping up the minutes a little bit. But I would imagine the first week or so is going to be kind of rocky, and we'll have to go from there."
Said David Lee, "He's strong as hell in the paint. There's no doubt about
that. He's getting his timing back with catching and finishing and things like that. And those are things that'll come. But anytime you're a big body like he is inside and you have as quick feet as he does, the only thing that's going to be a little bit short is probably cardio, but he can pick that up in a few games."
Curry has only played in seven games this season, and they haven't even been all consecutive. He missed the season's first 10 games with a torn right plantaris muscle, then came back to play four straight games in November. But a sore left knee sent him to the sidelines after that, and he didn't play again until Dec. 11 when he played three more times. So, no, Curry has not played in the 2010 calendar year yet.
D'Antoni called it "a good chance [for Curry] to start anew and get him back on track," and Curry hopes to have the remainder of the season be a springboard.
"I'm just looking at it as an opportunity to go out there and get some games in and try to go into the summer with some kind of momentum," he said. "It's all about me just trying to get some kind of rhythm."
While Curry expects to play tonight, Tracy McGrady remains questionable. He sat out Monday's game due to soreness and fatigue, and he participated in yesterday's warm-ups but not the full practice. D'Antoni wasn't sure if McGrady would be available tonight.
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Curry expects to play tonight when Knicks face Spurs
By MARK HALE
Last Updated: 2:27 PM, March 10, 2010
Posted: 2:19 AM, March 10, 2010
<!-- context: -->Tonight, Eddy Curry will be feeling some butterflies. Because it's been a while since he even has been active for a game, let alone played in one.
With 19 games to go, the Knicks' perpetually injured big man is set to return to action in San Antonio tonight.
Curry hasn't played since Dec. 17, missing 38 straight games, thanks in part to coach Mike D'Antoni's decision not to play him but mainly to the left knee surgery Curry underwent in January.
"Feeling pretty good. Just go out there [tonight] and see what I can do," Curry said after practice yesterday. "[I'm] a little bit nervous. I haven't played in so long. But I'm looking forward to the opportunity."
WALSH WILL BE WATCHING
Curry is averaging just 3.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 8.9 minutes this season, and it's pretty much an unknown what he can offer now. When D'Antoni was asked yesterday what his expectation was on what Curry could give the Knicks and also how much he would look to play him, the coach replied, "No idea and no idea."
"With a lot of these guys, we'll just kind of feel it out and see how he goes and he'll tell me and I'll look at it," D'Antoni said. "I do want to play him and keep amping up the minutes a little bit. But I would imagine the first week or so is going to be kind of rocky, and we'll have to go from there."
Said David Lee, "He's strong as hell in the paint. There's no doubt about
that. He's getting his timing back with catching and finishing and things like that. And those are things that'll come. But anytime you're a big body like he is inside and you have as quick feet as he does, the only thing that's going to be a little bit short is probably cardio, but he can pick that up in a few games."
Curry has only played in seven games this season, and they haven't even been all consecutive. He missed the season's first 10 games with a torn right plantaris muscle, then came back to play four straight games in November. But a sore left knee sent him to the sidelines after that, and he didn't play again until Dec. 11 when he played three more times. So, no, Curry has not played in the 2010 calendar year yet.
D'Antoni called it "a good chance [for Curry] to start anew and get him back on track," and Curry hopes to have the remainder of the season be a springboard.
"I'm just looking at it as an opportunity to go out there and get some games in and try to go into the summer with some kind of momentum," he said. "It's all about me just trying to get some kind of rhythm."
While Curry expects to play tonight, Tracy McGrady remains questionable. He sat out Monday's game due to soreness and fatigue, and he participated in yesterday's warm-ups but not the full practice. D'Antoni wasn't sure if McGrady would be available tonight.
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