| GREENBURGH, N.Y., March 1 - Steve Francis said Monday that he was uncertain whether he would play again this season because of a right knee injury. But he practiced Thursday and said he expected to play against the Golden State Warriors on Friday.Skip to next paragraph r rJustin Lane/European Pressphoto AgencyrKnicks guard Steve Francis, driving against Keyon Dooling of the Magic late last month, missed 30 games with tendinitis in his right knee. N.B.A.rLive Scoreboard Results and Schedule rTeams | Statistics rDiscuss the N.B.A. rKnicksrSchedule/Results Roster | Statistics rDiscuss the Knicks rNetsrSchedule/Results Roster | Statistics rDiscuss the Nets rW.N.B.A.rSchedule/Results rStatistics | Teams rStandings rFrancis was not the recipient of a miracle cure. He merely felt he had no choice. Asked what accounted for the sudden turnaround, Francis said: "The obvious - Jamal got hurt. You know what I'm saying? Nate's been sick, and he's been sick for a while. And I'm there, and I'm looking forward to putting forth a good effort to help the team."Francis was referring to Jamal Crawford, who is scheduled to have surgery on a stress fracture in his right ankle on Friday, and Nate Robinson, who did not travel to Boston for Wednesday's game, a 102-94 loss, because of a stomach virus.The Knicks have also been without David Lee, who has missed the last three games with a sprained right ankle. Lee did not practice Thursday, and what initially seemed to be a day-to-day injury is lingering.Coach Isiah Thomas said Lee was "highly doubtful" for Friday's game, but Lee, Robinson, who also did not practice, and Francis are listed as questionable.The Knicks (26-33) had only three guards against the Celtics, including Stephon Marbury, who has also been playing through a knee injury. They fell behind by 23 points in the first half before taking a short-lived lead in the fourth quarter, underscoring the need for reinforcements in the backcourt.Francis approached the team sometime after Crawford's injury was announced on Tuesday and said that he was ready to return, if needed. Asked to evaluate his health after Thursday's practice, Francis said he would have to wait and see. But he added that he would most likely play Friday."The team needs me, you know what I'm saying?" Francis said. "I think I'm obligated, definitely, to give what I can. It might not be or it might be 100 percent. But whatever I can do to help the team. And I think the guys are really supportive of it. They know the things that I've been going through over the last couple months."A magnetic resonance imaging exam on Wednesday confirmed the initial diagnosis of tendinitis in the right knee, a condition that has forced Francis to miss 30 games this season."Hey, we'll take anything we can get," said Thomas, who added that he was not surprised by Francis's reversal. "We know he's not 100 percent healthy, but whatever he can give us, we'll definitely take because we're in need of bodies."The Knicks traded for Francis in February 2006 to please the former coach Larry Brown. But neither Francis, who has never fit in well, nor the team has been pleased with the results. Unless the Knicks can trade Francis, which is unlikely because of his high salary, it seems inevitable that they will buy out his contract."There's a possibility for anybody to get traded," Francis said. "Like I said, the best players to ever play this game have been traded. So I'm no exception to it. It's the nature of the business of the N.B.A. That week has passed. And we're here now to play Golden State."The Knicks on Friday will search for ways to mask the absence of Crawford, who averaged 17.9 points a game, second highest on the team. In the Knicks' first game without Crawford, Eddy Curry was hampered by Celtics double teams, and the Knicks lacked a scoring threat at the end."We're never going to really pick up the slack for Jamal because there's no one on our team who's capable of doing the things that he or David provides," Thomas said. "But if everyone stays in their role and do the things that they're capable of doing, we'll be O.K."Francis is aiming to play the role of a savvy veteran who can shrug off an injury to prove his worth."I'm not a bum," he said. "Don't forget that. I can still play." |
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