Help is On the Horizon

Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni said Eddy Curry had been working out at a grueling pace for over a month. The results, however, would still shock just about anybody.

Curry looked slim, ripped and like a player on a mission when he practiced with his team Tuesday for the first time since tearing a calf muscle on the opening day of training camp. His two-a-day conditioning program with Knicks’ trainers over the last month seems to have worked to perfection so far.

"I didn't want any more setbacks so while I was out rehabbing from the injury I wanted to get in the best shape as possible," Curry said. "This is the best I've felt in a long time. I feel real good now. Just walking around I feel real light on my feet. Everything feels better, I think."

With the Knicks set to play games on Wednesday and Friday, it seems unrealistic for Curry to get back on the court until sometime next week. The Knicks will have a four-day break before they visit Indiana on Nov. 18.

“He needs to get back in practice a little bit,” D’Antoni said.

After playing just 12 minutes in three games last season, Curry worked hard during the offseason, losing around 40 pounds while still adding muscle. He was finally ready go before injuring his calf during a scrimmage on Sept. 29.

"I just thought I did enough this summer,” he said. “I kind of felt like the little bit I had to left to do I would get through it in training camp and then the injury came."

Curry won’t be asked to be the Knicks’ savior, but his return is one of the more positive moments of the season. He will provide a much-needed low-post presence for the Knicks, who rank in the bottom five in field goal percentage.

“He’ll be that big guy in the middle running down, setting a pick, rolling and trying to get the ball near the basket and hopes he dunks on everybody,” D’Antoni said on Monday. “That would be ideal.”

Curry isn’t the only player who returned to practice on Tuesday. Nate Robinson, who missed five games after spraining his right ankle, was also back on the floor.

Robinson could play as soon as Wednesday when the Knicks host his close friend and former Knick Jamal Crawford and the Atlanta Hawks.

"Nate went pretty good," D'Antoni said after Tuesday’s practice. "He's questionable for tomorrow. He's a maybe. He'll go tomorrow morning and work out and if he feels great, he might play tomorrow night."

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