The New York Knicks are skating on thin ice as they hope this is the year things begin to turn around. Pressure is on Derrick Fisher and Phil Jackson to make things work and the one thing that can derail it all is injuries. The Knicks cannot afford injuries and right now their injury list is getting lengthy. The biggest concern is Kristaps Porzingis who continues to deal with non-contact injuries in the preseason.
Porzingis is expected to be the starter in the power forward position, but only if they can keep him healthy. According to ESPN's Ian Begley, the rookie was held out of the third preseason game with a strained quad muscle. This is his third injury in the past four months and while none of them have been serious, the issue is becoming chronicle which could be a setback for the team and the rookie. Fisher admits that the Knicks need to figure things out in hopes of getting Porzingis fully healthy for the season opener.
"There's definitely something that we need to try and figure out [to] make sure to try and help him limit the injuries and the setbacks," Fisher said, via ESPN.com. "It's for him, it's for us, it's for our medical team. We'll figure it out. We're not concerned as much as we were the last time he had the injury with the quad. We're pretty hopeful we'll have him back Friday."
The Knicks are also dealing with an issue to Arron Affalo who has been out with a hamstring injury. Fisher told the media that he is hopeful the shooting guard is ready to play for the season opener while Sasha Vujacic becomes the starter with him out. The injuries to two presumed starters is not exactly what the Knicks are looking to have this year. Anthony stresses that he is healthy heading into the new season as he prepares to carry the team.
"The most important thing is being healthy," Anthony said, via ESPN.com. "When you're healthy, everything kind of falls into place mentally. There's a lot of clarity for me at this moment where I can just play ball and not worry about [a] tick-tack injury or having surgery or things like that - and I can just help my team."
Several players on the Knicks' roster have lengthy injury resumes. Jose Calderon knows that it is important for him to remain healthy if he wants to stay the starting point guard. Jerian Grant and Langston Galloway are hot on his heels. The same can be said for Derrick Williams who would like to take the starting spot away from Porzingis.
