It could make the final days of a virtually unwatchable Knicks season even less appealing, but the team must decide whether or not playing an injured Kristaps Porzingis again makes any sense.
“I would be the last person to recommend that he comes back and puts himself in a situation where he could cause more harm to himself. That would be ridiculous of us as an organization and a medical staff. They won’t allow that to happen,” interim coach Kurt Rambis said Friday after the Knicks revealed an MRI exam on Porzingis showed the rookie suffered a right shoulder strain.
So Porzingis, injured Monday in New Orleans when he attempted to block an Alonzo Gee shot, sat out a second straight game Friday. After being held out of the Dallas loss Wednesday, Porzingis sat against the Nets on Friday. Now the question is when he will return. Bringing him back this season doesn’t make a whole heckuva lot of sense.
“I can’t answer that question. He’s day-to-day. We’ll see how the swelling goes and how he feels and getting the strength and mobility back in it, but beyond that, I don’t know,” Rambis said about the rookie playing in the final five games. “He’s going to have to feel very comfortable, feel strong, have mobility and be comfortable that he can go out there and perform and not worry about his shoulder.”
Porzingis was not the lone casualty heading into the Nets game. Jose Calderon suffered what was called a deep thigh bruise in Dallas. Rambis said the veteran point guard would be out “an extended period” — which certainly sounds like the remainder of the season. Calderon was on crutches Friday as a result of his collision with the Mavericks’ Wesley Mathews. That injury made Knicks rookie Jerian Grant a starter for the first time.
“Just a contusion,” Calderon said before the Knicks’ 105-91 win over the Nets at the Garden. “But it was a little bit more than normal, [and] he got me in a bad spot or something. … I don’t know. Maybe my muscle was relaxed at that time, so I felt it kind of went through.”
Calderon shrugged when asked about the logic and sense of playing again this season.
“I don’t know. I’m just thinking to get it better. I’ve got to be a couple days with the crutches at least,” said Calderon, who was relieved nothing was broken and said “ice and compression” are his treatment options.
Much of the attention, though, was focused on Porzingis, who did not speak before the game. The 7-foot-3 Latvian, who was the No. 4 overall pick last June, had missed just four previous games — two with illness, one with a bruised lower leg and one for the shoulder. Despite his slender build, which has received more and more physical pounding as the season has worn on, Porzingis has proved fairly durable.
“I’m impressed, but I’m not impressed,” Rambis said of Porzingis’ durability. “Not impressed being because he’s such a fierce competitor. He’s going to want to play. He’s one of those guys that you could have the hardest two-hour practice you’ve ever had and then go out and say, ‘I want you to run some sprints, you’re not in good enough shape, and then we’re going to go lift weights, and then I want you to take 500 shots,’ and he’d go, ‘OK, I’m good.’ So he understands that it’s tough.
“It’s a physical game, and we’re encouraging him to get inside, which makes it more physical, but he’s such a fierce competitor that he’s going to take on challenges. … He has this incredible desire to be a complete all around ball player and be one of the great players that have ever played this game. He’s really driven. So it doesn’t surprise me that he was going to try to figure out how to make it through the season and just deal with everything. It’s going to be a learning experience for him. He’s been terrific all year.”