The Knicks Fix

Eddy Curry joked that he "dodged a bullet" the last time the Knicks were here in Miami because that was the day Shaquille O'Neal decided to go for surgery to repair cartilage in his knee. He hasn't been back in the lineup since and it is not expected that The Diesel will be running tonight when Curry and the Knicks face the Heat here in Miami.

With the way Eddy Curry is playing this year -- all-star level, some say (and I agree) -- isn't there some curiosity to see how the emerging Eddy would do against the aging O'Neal? Get some Shaq vs. Baby Shaq?

"I would prefer not to see that," Isiah Thomas said with a laugh. "I'm sure Eddy would prefer not to see that, too. I'm not curious at all."

The Knicks will gladly take all of the undermanned opponents they can get this season. And they've had quite a few already, if you consider they had two games against Memphis without Pau Gasol, possibly two games with Miami without Shaq (and Dwyane Wade twisted his ankle on Sunday so he might not be 100 percent tonight), no Paul Pierce in one game against Boston, the Indiana Pacers just after the big trade and the first Denver game without Kenyon Martin. I'm sure there are others I'm missing, but those stand out to me right now as I rush to get this done so I can soak up some South Beach sun (just kidding...not really).

Curry is always gracious to Shaq, who has always been encouraging to Curry. He says he is not happy to see O'Neal still hurt and unable to play, but he's not disappointed he doesn't have to bang with that 320-pound body for 48 minutes.

Then someone mentioned that the consolation prize is Alonzo Mourning.

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Stephon Marbury says his balky left knee is doing better today -- especially after some massage treatment yesterday -- and he's in for tonight. He's not even questionable. But Isiah Thomas talked about the need to monitor Marbury's minutes so the injury doesn't get worse, especially to the point where he might miss some games.

“We’ll have to buy him time within practice sometimes," Thomas said. "But for the most part, when he shows up, he’s going to play.”

Wade is a little banged up after tweaking his ankle on Sunday against the Mavericks. But it will be interesting to see if Stephon can defend Wade -- I would assume he will get some time against him -- as well as he's defended other guards over the past few weeks.

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Got this from the Knicks crack media relations manager Nick Brown, who might already be starting the David Lee for Sixth Man of the Year campaign. It's a worthy cause.

Lee's 10.5 rebounds per game is by far the best among players coming off the bench in the NBA this season. The second-best rebounder off the bench is Reggie Evans of the Denver Nuggets, who is pulling 8.3 boards a game. Here's the list. The criteria is you must have played a minimum of 20 games and have less than 15 starts.

1. Lee 10.5
2. Evans 8.3
3. Sean May (Cha) 6.8
4. Dik. Mutombo (Hou) 6.6
5. And. Varejao (Cle) 6.3

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So, yeah, I'm staying in South Beach and it's been in the 80s. Worse places to be right now. I left Indianapolis on Sunday morning wearing sandals in the snow. Got out of the plane in Miami with a blast of humid air in my face. Walking down A1A, I feel pasty. But this isn't a vacation. There's work to be done and not on my tan.

I have some friends here, as one does in several cities after years of traveling for your business. He has a college-age son I used to coach when he played basketball and he called me to meet him for lunch. His plan was for a lazy afternoon of lunch and hanging out and I was like, "I have a lot of work to do."

He couldn't understand it. "Work? The game is tonight. You write about the game, right? What is there to do now?"

Kids.

Anyway, I gotta get to the beach now.