Isiah Thomas yesterday confirmed Allan Houston could be done until next training camp. The vibes from Houston that he may not be ready for the postseason grew yesterday, as he talked about not wanting a premature comeback jeopardizing next season.

"It will probably be a wait-and-see with Allan," Isiah said. "His situation is day to day and that could change depending on where he's at. That's a possibility [of him missing the playoffs]. I'm hoping that's not the case but that could be the case."

If DerMarr Johnson starts again at small forward at the Garden tonight vs. Portland, you can count on another loss for the Knicks in what it is a monster game for their playoff hopes. After tonight's game, the Knicks play five of their final seven games on the road, where their record is 13-23.
Johnson started Saturday in the Detroit destruction because Allan Houston, Tim Thomas and Penny Hardaway were all out. A mentally and physically tortured Houston is out indefinitely, possibly even until next training camp. Meanwhile, Thomas and Hardaway, the strained-right-groin twins, are shooting to play tonight, but both are listed as questionable.

Thomas, out for nine days, is more likely to play than Hardaway, as he went rough a full-speed workout Saturday.

"It felt good, it's a little painful," Thomas said. "I'll get treatment and I'll be able to go [tonight]. I definitely need to be out there."

"I don't want to go backwards," Hardaway said. "We're in a race, but we feel like if we get everyone back the right way, that we'll have a chance to make the playoffs and make some noise. We don't want guys limping into the playoffs and not be able to recover and just get smashed in the first round."

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) New York's Allan Houston and Detroit's Rasheed Wallace each sat out the Knicks-Pistons game Saturday night with injuries.

Wallace, who is averaging 14.5 points and 6.8 rebounds since coming to Detroit from Atlanta at the trading deadline, has a sore lower back and is day to day.

Houston missed four games with a left quadriceps contusion before playing eight minutes in New York's win over Toronto on Friday, and is sidelined with the same injury.

Houston's injury, combined with the continuing absence of Tim Thomas (groin) and Penny Hardaway (groin), left the Knicks with only nine healthy players against the Pistons.

Lenny Wilkens met with Marbury yesterday and told his point guard to slow the tempo at times and try to get the big men involved more, particularly Kurt Thomas.

"We have to trust the offense," Wilkens said.

More than Marbury's injury, the absence of two primary scorers - Tim Thomas and Houston - places a greater burden on Marbury to generate offense. The trio has played together in only eight of a possible 18 games. Thomas is listed as doubtful for tonight while Houston is questionable.

"The difference between having (Allan) is like night and day," Marbury said. "He spaces the floor so well. Guys can't leave him. When he plays he makes the game so much easier."

When Marbury was asked about Kurt Thomas being injured, he fired back by saying: "Everybody is hurt, man. We all have to play with pain right now. It's the stretch run. We can talk about all that (junk) as far as everybody being out. We have to get everybody playing. If you're not hurt right now something is wrong."

It's report card time, fans. True, the regular season isn't over for a couple of weeks, but this may be the last opportunity to throw darts at the dregs of the league.

Keep in mind that grading was not done on a curve -- my schoolteacher wife doesn't like curves -- even though this is a curve year, particularly in the Western Conference, where, as San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich observed recently, "We all seem to be blowing it."

Keep in mind, also, that the best teams aren't receiving A's and the worst aren't receiving F's. Grading was based on how far above, or below, its potential that a team has played. Report cards, incidentally, have to be signed by parents and returned by next Tuesday.

Another rumor wafted in on the trade winds yesterday, hardly creating a Another rumor wafted in on the trade winds yesterday, hardly creating a stir at Knick practice. Some Laker players had mentioned to an L.A. reporter they expected Kobe Bryant to become a Knick next season, and then a New York paper hypothesized that it could only happen if the Lakers sign and then trade Bryant for Allan Houston.

So there was Houston in Tarrytown yesterday - a month after the trade deadline, more than three months before any deal can even be discussed - answering to flimsy deductions based on logic and wishful thinking. He has heard these trade reports forever, and he was asked whether his health might determine his future with the Knicks.

"I don't worry about it, because it's not in Isiah's control, and it's not in the Knicks' control," Houston said. "I've always said that. If God wants me to be somewhere else, that's where I'll be. If He wants me to be here, that's where I'll be."

Could Allan Houston be done for the season, and if so will the Knicks miss the playoffs once again?

The two might be inter related according to an article by Michael Morrisey in the New York Post, the piece revealing that Houston's knee appears to be worse than expected and that he wont be rushing back - even if it means the Knicks miss out on the postseason.

"I'm willing to delay it as long as it gets better," Houston said after practice. "If it's two games . . . if it is the end of the season. I don't want to think that, but it could be a possibility."

"Either you can play, or you can't," said Houston, who will miss his fourth straight game tonight. "And right now I just can't.

"So no matter what the standings are . . . it's just not really ready, no matter what our place is in the standings."

Four teams (Cleveland, Boston, Toronto and Philadelphia) are chasing the injury-riddled Knicks, while three (Miami, Milwaukee and New Orleans) remain above them but within striking distance.

New York's injury woes do not end there, with Tim Thomas (listed as doubtful) and Anfernee Hardaway (listed as likely) missing practice with strained groins.

"Unfortunately, I have to say I've been there before," Knicks coach Lenny Wilkens joked of the injury plague. "Not that it helps any."

Houston, who has gutted out injuries in the past, has taken a public relations hit judging from some recent talk-show callers. The former All-Star shooting guard hasn't allowed criticism that he's suddenly soft get into his head.

"When I used to play with a lot of pain, it was different," Houston said. "This is something I just haven't really faced before.

"I haven't worried about people saying things about me in the past. Why would I worry about what they say now?"

Houston was a last-minute scratch against Chicago Saturday but says the injury hasn't gotten better. Officially, his injury is a left quadriceps contusion.

"The same thing's hurting when I try to really cut and plant on it," he said.

Houston is buoyed that it's not the same knee problem that sidelined him virtually throughout February. But many observers agree the problem is related because of his bad hinge.

"I know it'll be OK," he said. "I'm staying positive. When I do get back, I'll be rested."

So how did the Knicks lose to the Bulls on Saturday?  Judging my recent comments what you come away with might be dependant on what time you ask.

Lenny Wilkens, the man at the helm of the Knicks, didn't exactly clear the air yesterday when he twice altered his account of what had transpired. At the Knicks' morning shootaround, Wilkens stuck with his original story that he told Shandon Anderson to foul Jamal Crawford with Chicago leading 83-81 and a 2.7 second differential between the game clock and the shot clock.

"I was telling Shandon to give the foul at half court," Wilkens said early yesterday. "He grabbed the guy but they didn't call anything."

However, 90 minutes before last night's game against the Hawks, Wilkens said hadn't wanted to foul but instead wanted the Knicks to play defense. Wilkens reasoned that he wanted to avoid falling behind by three with Tim Thomas and Allan Houston both sidelined by injuries.

"I wanted them up and real aggressive," Wilkens said. "Then if there's a foul that's fine. We had just stopped them the time before."

The Bulls, leading by two, took possession with 26.7 seconds remaining. Crawford held his dribble until Anderson went for a steal. Crawford spun past Anderson and passed the ball to Kendall Gill, who quickly passed back to Crawford. With the shot clock winding down and Penny Hardaway chasing him, Crawford hit a fadeaway jumper with 3.6 seconds left.

Immediately after the game, Wilkens insisted that he had screamed for Anderson to foul and that Anderson had been unable to hear those instructions over the crowd noise. Television replays showed Wilkens signaling for a foul by tapping his forearms together.

Anderson, though, continued to stick to his original version that at no point did Wilkens instruct him to foul.

"You can't be turning your head without losing your guy," Anderson said. "It was hard to get a feel on what he (Wilkens) was saying."

So, what did happen?

Lenny Wilkens tries to distance himself from Chicago fiasco as he keeps his eyes on action.  

Lenny Wilkens, the winningest and losingest coach in NBA history, isn't sweating the final 11 games. Maybe it's because when you coach in the East, you can defy the laws of nature on a nightly basis. The competition is so lousy, you can lose and actually rise in the standings.
"We control our destiny," Wilkens said yesterday. "We're capable."

There are at least two different ways to take that last statement. With some real shaky teams ahead of them, namely Milwaukee and New Orleans, and four home games in an eight-day stretch that started last night, the Knicks are capable of moving all the way up to the No.5 seed. But judging from a few of their recent performances, they're just as capable of throwing away winnable games and falling out of the playoff picture entirely.

For Wilkens to keep smiling, he has to get this team into the postseason. Once Isiah Thomas changed his mind at the 11th hour and left Mike Fratello standing at the altar, he hired Wilkens with one goal in mind. After having his last team in Toronto quit on him, he has to get the Knicks into the playoffs. No questions asked. No excuses. That's what Jim Dolan wants.

If Wilkens falls short, the coaching change we've all expected from the day Thomas showed up could become reality. So while he appears to be his normal placid self - smiling and as smooth as ever - Wilkens has to be churning inside.

Isiah Thomas will be competing against 28 other teams for free agent Kobe Bryant this July, so odds aren't good. But the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday some of Bryant's Laker teammates have bets he'll wind up with the Knicks.
Thomas has told confidants he will make a strong pitch for Kobe, a Philly native who may want back to the East Coast.

One thing that makes it not so unfathomable is Phil Jackson may have interest in Allan Houston in a sign-and-trade - the only way this deal can happen.

In a recent publication, former CBA coach/author/Jackson buddy, Charlie Rosen, wrote about the Kobe situation and mentioned how Houston would fit perfectly in Jackson's triangle offense. Rosen is one of Jackson's closest friends. He was an assistant under Jackson with the Albany Patroons in the 1980's.

So it's food for thought, especially with Houston's max salary commensurate with what Kobe's seeking. Of course, the Lakers would only do it if they thought they'd lose Kobe to an under-the-cap outfit such as Phoenix without compensation. The Lakers still would probably want another decent player from the Knicks, say Kurt Thomas, with the Lakers giving up back an additional bad contract.