Keith Van Horn started yesterday’s 79-74 win over New Orleans with a noticeable limp, and finished it on the bench with mediocre numbers. But just being back on the floor for a victory after missing the last six games was what mattered to Van Horn.
In his first game since spraining his right ankle in practice Nov. 18, Van Horn finished with seven points and four rebounds. Despite missing six of his seven shots, committing four fouls and looking tentative on both sides of the court, there were positives to be found.
“I wasn’t feeling great,” said Van Horn. “I hadn’t practiced in 10 days, so I kind of just risked it and went out there. It feels good running straight, but in terms of cutting, I’m really tentative right now. Hopefully I’ll have a good practice [today], and be close to full strength [tomorrow].”
The gimpy Knicks might finally be at full strength tomorrow as well. They’ve won four of their last five with Van Horn rejoining the lineup with Allan Houston and his sore back and Antonio McDyess is hoping to return tomorrow against Detroit.
Still, they wouldn’t be the Knicks without an injury scare.
After missing all four of his first-half shots, Van Horn gave them a 53-43 third-quarter lead on a 3-pointer. Then, filling the lane on a fast-break, he got hacked by George Lynch and came down awkwardly on his ankle. He hit both free throws with 3:19 left, went to the bench and didn’t return.
“I didn’t want to use him too much because he hadn’t played. I wasn’t going to play him a lot of minutes anyway, before that incident,” Don Chaney said.
And Van Horn, who was in the trainer’s room for a half-hour getting ice treatment, insists he’s fine.
“I wouldn’t say I re-injured it. It bothered me, but that’s to be expected, especially not having been able to test it. It was a good test, and I thought it responded pretty well,” said Van Horn, who didn’t lobby to get back out on the court.
Still, he was enthused at the prospect of finally playing with Houston and McDyess for the first time.
“We’re getting better. After that [3-9] start, we’ve been playing good ball,” Van Horn said. “We’re getting guys healthy; over the next two weeks you’ll finally get to see the healthiest Knick team you’ve seen in years. When we get guys back, it’ll make us that much better.”
