The Knicks won Game 1 against the Celtics without Pablo Prigioni, but Knicks coach Mike Woodson hopes to have the veteran point guard back for Game 2 on Tuesday.
“He’s still day-to-day and we don’t know if he will be ready on Tuesday,” Woodson said Sunday on a conference call of Prigioni, who badly sprained his right ankle in the regular season finale against Atlanta on Wednesday.
“And if he is he’ll play. If he tells me he’s ready. We’ll practice [Monday] and get a feel of where he is tomorrow. If he feels pretty good by Tuesday I’ll play him because I know what he brings. He brings high energy and he knows how to run a team. We just gotta wait till Tuesday to know where we are with him.”
If Prigioni is able to go, Woodson said it would change the Knicks’ defensive matchups in Game 2, with Iman Shumpert switching to cover Jeff Green instead of Carmelo Anthony defending him.
“If Pablo’s back, then the lineup changes, to start out anyway,” Woodson said. “You probably would have Raymond on Paul and Iman on Green to start out.
“That’s what we envisioned coming into the series before Pablo got hurt. We’ll see how it all plays out. But I thought Melo did an excellent job on Green. Green’s a tough cover for anybody.”
The Knicks went 16-2 down the regular-season stretch with Prigioni starting at the point guard. Without him in the 85-78 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 1, Raymond Felton played the point and Woodson inserted Chris Copeland into the starting lineup at the three. Copeland went scoreless after going for 30+ points in his last two regular-season games.
“We went back and charted our offense,” Woodson said. “It was slow at times, it was very stagnant. At times we had movement and good looks that could’ve broke the game open. We didn’t make them. When you play playoff basketball, it’s not always going to go well offensively. The first thing that normally goes is the offense because everyone’s so locked in on defense.’’
As for Tyson Chandler, who went scoreless in Game 1 after missing 16 of the previous 20 games with a bulging disc in his neck, Woodson said it was more an issue of stamina than of injury.
“It won’t take him long, but that was a factor,” Woodson said. “I could tell the way he was moving that he didn’t have the kind of pop we’re used to seeing him have. That’s OK. That’s expected. Hell, he hasn’t played in a number of games. That’s the beauty of having [Marcus] Camby, and Kenyon [Martin] and Earl [Barron] sitting over there, as well.
“Those guys have to be ready to contribute when somebody’s not giving us what we expect. I thought what minutes he played on the floor were valuable minutes to help us win. But eventually he’ll get his stamina back and he’ll be back up to speed and he’ll help us continue to win.”
STOUDEMIRE STILL INACTIVE
Amar’e Stoudemire was also inactive for Game 1, but sat on the bench in a suit cheering his teammates on.
Woodson said prior to the series that Stoudemire (right knee debridement) could debut in a potential second-round series.
“Amar’e’ has always been a big piece of our team, without a doubt,” Woodson said.
“He’s just progressing right along. When he’s going to play, I don’t know at this point. But if he’s able to make it back he will be back in the rotation ready to play. I’m expecting him to play some pretty good positive minutes for our ballclub. It just adds another great piece to our team out on the floor as we continue this journey.”
Photo: ESPN.com
