NBA Insider with Ken Berger

Greenburgh, N.Y. – Jamal Crawford just got finished speaking with reporters for the first time since he had surgery on his right ankle, and he sounded reasonably optimistic that he could return at some point during a first-round playoff series if the Knicks make it there.

Crawford is in a walking boot and will be on crutches for about another week. Then comes cardio work, and eventually, on-court drills.

He didn’t entirely rule out returning for the last couple of games of the regular season, but that doesn’t appear likely at all given two interesting revelations from the interview at the Knicks’ practice facility: 1) Crawford said the stress fracture in his right ankle could have become a Grant Hill-type injury if it had been detected any later; and 2) He was pretty specific that he’d be iffy for the first game or two of a first-round playoff series, saying he’d have a better chance of coming back at some point after that.

Crawford said he was fine with how the team handled his injury. But his revelation that he felt pain in the ankle for about two months before he was given X-rays and a CT scan will only fuel more questions about the Knicks’ medical staff.

Crawford added that he didn’t tell anyone about the pain for three or four weeks. After that, he said he was told the injury might have been tendinitis.

Channing Frye, who suffered a scratched cornea last night against the Mavericks, allegedly is practicing with protective goggles as we speak. That’s the news for now. Check back a little later for further updates and quotes from Crawford.

UPDATE: My bad for forgetting to update the blog with more stuff on Crawford, as promised. With so many injuries to follow, I feel like they have all transferred to my body. My head hurts. Now I understand why Alan writes about Flava Flav and Mike & the Mad Dog all the time. A blog is maddening to maintain when you're dealing with the Knicks.

Bottom line is this: According to a prominent orthopedic surgeon I spoke with today, the Knicks handled Crawford's injury properly, based on the information I was able to convey to him. The doc says it's reasonable that Crawford could return to play about eight weeks after surgery, which would put him in the middle of a potential first-round playoff series.

Frye is playing tomorrow night, with goggles to protect his scratched right cornea. No Quentin Richardson, and probably no David Lee -- although it looks like Lee could be back Friday night at Cleveland or Monday against Orlando. Stephon Marbury is fine -- relatively speaking -- after sustaining a neck stinger against Dallas and will play against Portland. Eddy Curry's back -- which stiffened up during a two-hour traffic jam on the Major Deegan on Monday -- seemed to have loosened up yesterday.

Unrelated item: Frank Isola of the Daily News apparently is posting on my blog under the name Mitchell. Check it out:

The problem with the NBA are the officials. You have probably the greatest athletes in the world competing, where most games are decided in the last 2-3 minutes. Inevitably, the winner is based on the officiating--who gets the calls and who doesn't during those last few minutes. And, these officials are all jokes, mostly as they are biased, usually as evidenced by the disparity of team records at home and away.
At some point, some sportswriter will be smart enough to point out how silly this great game has become.

Thanks for stopping by, Frank.

On another note, Henry Abbott has made it big. His Truehoop blog debuted at its new home today, ESPN.com. It's a must read if you follow the NBA.