Knicks Look to Thrill Raptors With Return of Chandler

After missing the previous two games due to personal reasons, Wilson 
Chandler is expected to meet the Knicks in Toronto for Friday night's 
matchup against Chris Bosh and the Raptors.

"As long as he has his passport we're in good shape," Coach Mike D'Antoni 
said.

Chandler's return will give the Knicks an even bigger lineup than the one 
they used to blow past the Detroit Pistons Wednesday night at The Garden 
when all five of the starters were 6-feet-6 or taller and the three reserves 
were smaller guards. D'Antoni isn't sure if Chandler will start in his first 
game back, but the forward is expected to rejoin the starting five soon 
enough.

In the meantime, D'Antoni will likely go with a lineup featuring Tracy 
McGrady at point guard with Bill Walker, Danilo Gallinari, Al Harrington 
and David Lee for the second straight game.

"There will be no reason to change," D'Antoni said after Thursday's practice 
at the team's training center. "We'll get Will back so we'll go big a lot 
and we'll see where we go from there."

McGrady, who is still working his way back from knee surgery, had his best 
all-around game since joining the Knicks two weeks ago while running the 
point for the first time in the orange and blue. He shined with the ball in 
his hands as he got more involved early on and finished with 21 points, 
eight assists and seven rebounds.

"I have the skills to play that position," McGrady said after the game. 
"Coach put the ball in my hands and I'm able to handle the ball, able to see 
over my defender, make plays for my teammates and it creates problems for 
other team. I like the lineup."

Walker, starting for the first time in his two-year career, also had a solid 
performance against the Pistons, scoring a career-high 22 points for the 
second straight game. Harrington added a game-high 26 points and David Lee 
contributed 21 points, 18 boards and eight dimes.

Using their ninth different starting lineup of the season, the Knicks played 
with energy on both ends of the floor to earn their second win in four games 
on Wednesday. D'Antoni hopes that he has found the right rotation to provide 
the same type of energy each night during the final stretch of the season.

"The energy comes from guys having a good feeling they could win," D'Antoni 
said.

The only negative part about going big is getting some of the guards 
involved off the bench. After Wednesday's win, D'Antoni pointed to the fact 
that rookie Toney Douglas didn't play until the Knicks had a huge lead late 
in the fourth quarter. Sergio Rodriguez, who had started at point guard in 
the previous five games, played just 19 minutes.

But it sounds like D'Antoni will continue to do his best to get everybody in 
the rotation involved more.

"We'll go small," he said. "We'll go with Sergio and Eddie (House) will come 
in, and we'll just take the best of both worlds and see what works."

Eddy Curry could also see some increased playing time once he is cleared to 
play. Curry, who underwent knee surgery six weeks ago, has practice twice 
with his teammates this week and is just days away from making his 
much-anticipated return.

"I think he needs a few more practices," D'Antoni said. "It's tough at this 
time of the year because we have three games in four nights. But he keeps 
coming on and there's no setbacks so he said sometime next week maybe. We'll 
have to talk and we'll have to see, but pretty soon."