The Knicks will have Nazr Mohammed and Tim Thomas in uniform tonight against Detroit, but they won’t have Allan Houston.
And that development overshadowed Isiah Thomas’ All-Star Sunday trade that upgrades the Knicks only if the 6-10 Mohammed, a career backup, turns into the double-double guy he has never been.
Houston announced yesterday he has put off tonight’s expected return from his rehab assignment and could miss another two weeks as he strengthens his two sore knees. Houston, who has missed three weeks and seven games, said, “I’m not going to put a timetable on it.”
The West Coast trip that begins in one week in Sacramento would seem the earliest. “I know it’s gotten better but I started below ground, I’ve moved to ground level, now I’m continuing to move up,” Houston said, seeming downcast. “I’m not ready yet.
“For so long I’ve stepped in too early because all I’ve known to do is play in the condition I was in,” Houston added, “probably because I didn’t know it was going to get better. With the progress I’ve made the last two weeks, I know it will get better because it was pretty bad. It’s feeling good, not the way I want to but I know it’s going to get better.”
Just as teams are making their playoff push, the Knicks, a team once climbing the standings and jelling, are a mess tonight as they return from the All-Star break. The new acquisitions, Thomas and Mohammed, didn’t arrive in time for practice last night and neither will start vs. the Pistons. Lenny Wilkens will go with Shandon Anderson at shooting guard and Penny Hardaway at small forward.
The Knicks were eager for Houston’s return tonight and Wilkens said last week he “expected” it. Management still seems to support Houston’s decision, though they are concerned with his long-term health at age 32.
“They made it clear to me they want me healthy,” Houston said. “I felt like for the first time I was really hurting us. I don’t want to feel like that. It’s much worse than I thought. I’ve played with it being injured and painful a long time. I don’t want to do go back and do that again.
“I don’t mind playing with a little soreness but I don’t want to go out there and not be Allan Houston. I’m not going to be less than I know I could be. That’s my gauge. It’s not fair to my team, the fans or me.”
Houston wishes he had shut it down for this long earlier this season. Instead, he took just an eight-day hiatus in early December.
Even with the horrible news about Houston, Isiah Thomas has no regrets about the timing of his latest trade that divested the Knicks of one of their chief contributors, Keith Van Horn, who was having a gutty season under enormous scrutiny.
“We were starting from the bottom,” Thomas said. “Whenever you start from the bottom, there’s going to be a few transition periods.”
Thomas, well-known during his career for playing big playoff games with a severely sprained ankle, said he’s fine with postponing Houston’s return.
“I’m not pressuring anyone to go out on the floor and ruin their careers,” he said. “I’ve watched a lot of players come back when they’re not healthy and blow up.”
Asked if he’s pointing toward the West Coast trip, Houston said, “I could point to Friday, Sunday or the West Coast trip, as long as I know I can be what I can be.”
