Lets kick off with a possibly good one:

IanBegley Ian Begley
Just bumped into Pablo Prigioni. He doesn't seem confident about playing tomorrow but is optimistic about Game 2 on Tuesday. #Knicks

Woodson sounded pessimistic about having Pablo for Game 2, but it would seem like he is progressing well and could be back for the second game of the series. Nice to have a couple of days off between games.

IanBegley Ian Begley
Tyson Chandler reiterates on @ESPNNY98_7FM that his neck is "great" and he will be 100 percent healthy for Game 1. #Knicks

More of a friendly reminder, as we read this yesterday, but since Chandler talked about how his legs loved the rest, its nice to know his neck also seems to feel good. Hopefully we will see DPOY Chandler and not Zombie Chandler.

Prigioni out, Copeland in for Knicks in Game 1

NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Knicks were without starting guard Pablo Prigioni in their playoff opener, going with rookie Chris Copeland against the Boston Celtics.

Prigioni sprained his right ankle Wednesday in the regular-season finale. Coach Mike Woodson says Saturday that Prigioni has been running and ''coming along nicely,'' but wanted to give him a few more days off.

The Knicks were 16-2 when Prigioni, a 35-year-old Argentine in his rookie NBA season, was in the starting lineup.

Copeland, also a rookie, closed the season with consecutive 30-point games and was the Eastern Conference rookie of the month for April.

Seems very likely we will have ourselves some Pabloing in Game 2.

Copeland to the starting lineup for Game 1.

Woodson says Prigioni should be ready for Game 2

Knicks coach Mike Woodson said if yesterday had been a Game 7, starting guard Pablo Prigioni likely would have suited up on his balky right ankle in the first-round playoff opener against the Celtics.

Woodson said he believes Prigioni will be ready for Game 2 on Tuesday and for the Knicks, that is a good thing. That’s because Woodson started Chris Copeland at the wing, and he appeared hampered by a recent shoulder surgery and seemed a bit overwhelmed in his playoff debut.

Copeland, recently a scoring beast, was scoreless in 12:46, going 0 for 3 in the Knicks’ 85-78 win.

“He could be a little nervous,’’ Woodson said after Game 1 at the Garden. “I started him and started him in the second half. This is big-time basketball and when you never [have] done it, it can be an eye opener. He will be all right. [We will] watch tape tomorrow and we will get him comfortable.’’

Copeland said he could use the few days to rest his shoulder, which popped out in the regular-season finale. He wore supportive tape on his shoulder and a black T-shirt to cover it.

“Could be better, but no excuses,’’ Copeland said of the sore left shoulder. “Rest will help.’’

Copeland said the playoff atmosphere may have gotten to him. “Everybody told me it was crazy and it was,’’ Copeland said.

Prigioni, 36, was inserted into the starting lineup last month as a second point guard and helped trigger a 13-0 winning streak. Prigioni sprained his ankle in the regular-season finale Wednesday and Raymond Felton lost his backcourt partner.

“I won’t rule [Prigioni’s return] out, he’s coming along nicely,’’ Woodson said. “I feel good. He’s running around. If I had to play him, I probably could play him. But I’m going to give him a few more days to make sure he is ready.’’

Woodson chose Copeland over situational defender James White. Copeland had just won Rookie of the Month for April.

“He’s earned that right,’’ Woodson said. “James White has played well for us when he’s been in too. I’ll go with Chris. He gives me something a little different than James gives from an offensive standpoint.’’

* As many predicted, the Knicks’ bench dominated, outscoring Boston 33-4. ... The eight points allowed in the fourth quarter broke the Knicks’ franchise defensive record of nine vs. the Nets in 1994.

* The last time Knicks won a playoff series was 2000. One month later, the Nets picked Kenyon Martin with the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft over Stromile Swift.

* This is the first Game 1 win in the playoffs for the Knicks since the 2001 first round vs. the Raptors. ... Earl Barron, Marcus Camby and Quentin Richardson did not play.

I doubt Pablo goes back to the bench when he comes back:

unstopaball12

When Pablo comes back, I hope woodson makes him come off the bench. With the celtics having a big starting line-up he or felton will be match up with Pierce or Green.

I hope he starts with Kidd, then bring Shumpert and Prigioni of the bench.

Chandler/kmart
Melo
Copeland/smith
Kidd/shumpert
Felton/Prigioni

Woody likes Kidd coming off the bench. That way he can monitor his minutes and maximize him for this run. But Felton does move to SG.

PG- Prigs
SG- Felton
SF- Shumpert
PF- Melo
C - Chandler

Bring the 13-0 run mojo back to the playoffs and move the ball!

IanBegley Ian Begley
Pablo Prigioni looked good at practice today, according to Mike Woodson. If he feels OK tomorrow, he will start in Game 2. #Knicks

It's looking more and more likely that Pablo will make his playoff debut for Game 2. He has been progressing well according to previous reports and if he feels fine tomorrow, he is good to go.

JaredZwerling Jared Zwerling
Shumpert on Prigioni: "Pablo looked good [today]. It didn't look like he had too much pain." #Knicks

Hope the "too much pain" part isn't based on any grimace Pablo did during practice. I want Prigs back, but considering how important he is to out ball movement, I want him as healthy as possible.

IanBegley Ian Begley
Woody's confident in Ray-Pierce matchup bec Ray guarded him at times in regular season: "He's got to be tough. That's all I can tell you."

New rotation for Game 2, the one we loved and made us winners of 13 straight and 16-1. Felton can handle Pierce.

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Tyson expects improvements for Game 2:

IanBegley Ian Begley
Tyson Chandler said his conditioning has improved. He feels minor stiffness in his neck, which is to be expected, he said. #Knicks

Hopefully the minor stiffness is part of the process, as people here have mentioned that it won't simply go away until he has prolonged rest. Hopefully we get DPOY Tyson for the rest of the playoffs.

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Shump adjusting:

JaredZwerling Jared Zwerling
Shump: "I feel a lot better. I'm definitely not thinking as much; I'm just going out there playing. Everything is way more fluid." #Knicks

Hopefully he backs up these words for Game 2. He has too much talent to be over thinking because its playoffs time. Enjoy the ride and do what you do best.

DurzoBlint wrote:

VDesai wrote:Amare was going 10/10 every night before he got hurt. If he can get back in the game and have his health, than we'll be something to reckon with.

and he was making a greater effort on defense than I have ever seen from him. He'd fully solidify our 2nd unit since we haven't gotten anything from Novak or Cope. I do expect to see Cope produce at some point but, our 2nd unit could REALLY use Amare right now.

I really want to emphasize that point.

Yet, there we see Rose on the bench for the Bulls. We should be proud.

simrud wrote:I think its obvious that Stat playing instead of Cope and Novak (talk about bad contracts, 4 million for a guy to stand in the corner?) is a significant upgrade. At the end of the day having a 6 11 athletic dude come off the bench is way better than however you want to describe what Cope/Novak bring to the table.

Novaks contract is good for us- it gives us the option of trading for a player who makes $4mil a year. Same with cambys. Without them we'd only really have minimum contracts to trade which makes any deal almost impossible.

I like Camby and Novak, but even if you don't their contracts don't harm us in any way- they actually are good contracts for us to have.

Andrew wrote:

smackeddog wrote:

simrud wrote:I think its obvious that Stat playing instead of Cope and Novak (talk about bad contracts, 4 million for a guy to stand in the corner?) is a significant upgrade. At the end of the day having a 6 11 athletic dude come off the bench is way better than however you want to describe what Cope/Novak bring to the table.

Novaks contract is good for us- it gives us the option of trading for a player who makes $4mil a year. Same with cambys. Without them we'd only really have minimum contracts to trade which makes any deal almost impossible.

I like Camby and Novak, but even if you don't their contracts don't harm us in any way- they actually are good contracts for us to have.

They are only good contracts to have it their play equates to the $ paid.

Before this new cba, I'd agree with you. But under it, it is so difficult to add players once your over the apron, you really need a few $4mil contracts just to make a trade a possibility.