The Knicks won’t be getting Andrea Bargnani back as soon as they thought. The Italian big man seemed to be on track to make his season debut last night against the Philadelphia 76ers after suffering a hamstring injury before the season, but now he has strained a calf muscle, pushing his return back indefinitely.
From Kevin Armstrong of the New York Daily News:The wait to see Andrea Bargnani in a regular-season game will continue for the foreseeable future. The Knicks announced the 7-footer strained a calf muscle in a Friday workout, meaning he had to sit out Saturday night against the 76ers. He already had missed the first 13 games with a hamstring injury.
“We just have to remain patient,” coach Derek Fisher said. “It’s been tough for him ever since he’s been here.”
There is no timetable for Bargnani’s return.The Knicks picked up a win over the Sixers on Saturday night, but currently sit at 4-10 on the season, third from the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Bargnani has been disappointing on the court for several years, so it’s unclear how much he’d actually help the Knicks, but they need some sort of frontcourt reinforcement for their current big rotation of Samuel Dalembert, Amar’e Stoudemire and Jason Smith.