The New York Knicks have cooled a bit from their 6-4 start and stand at 8-7 as tonight’s home date with the LA Clippers looms (7:30 ET, NBA League Pass). The Knicks have alternated wins and losses since that 6-4 mark and will need all they can get from stars Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. tonight to get the momentum rolling again.
Trouble is, though, Porzingis and Hardaway Jr. are both dealing with minor, nagging injuries. For Porzingis, his troublesome right elbow has bothered him since early in the season and he’s not about to blame it for his offensive struggles of late, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday:
“I got to fix all the little details,” Porzingis said. “Look at the film, look at my shots and not overthink about it. Sometimes there are good shots, but it’s just in and out. The elbow is not bothering me at all. I don’t want to blame it on the elbow. Get some rest and not overthink about those kinds of things.”
The elbow is an issue that he said he likely will have to address after the season. Porzingis said he injured it when he fell on it in a couple of games this season. He missed the Nov. 8 game in Orlando because of the elbow and a sprained ankle.
Porzingis said he hasn’t undergone an X-ray or MRI on the elbow. He said it swells up, but because the swelling is down, he doesn’t want to have any tests on it now. He hopes to bounce back Monday night when the Knicks face the Clippers at the Garden.
“Today’s the day I’m almost back to normal,” Porzingis said. “I almost don’t feel it all anymore . . . If I’m already getting better, I don’t think it’s anything serious.”
As for Hardaway Jr., he has been stricken by a sore left foot and is questionable for tonight’s game:
Hardaway left Friday’s game against the Raptors with soreness in his left foot and didn’t practice Sunday. He said it was something he tried to play through and should have taken more seriously.
X-rays were negative. The Knicks are listing Hardaway as questionable, but he sounded as if it’s doubtful that he will play.
“I think it was just nagging, just nagging pain right there and me continuing to play on it, it got worse,” he said. “Just not really taking it serious. I’m thinking, ‘I’m strong enough, able enough to go out there and compete, so it’s not really that much. I don’t feel nothing as bad, so no need for me to get it right.’ But it got worse and worse and worse.
“Once I started feeling it after the Utah game that next morning when I came back to practice, that’s when I let them know it was bothering me. And I never had it before. This is the first time for me. It’s different. Just going to treat it as normal and see how it feels tomorrow.”
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