It has been a rough season for both the New York Knicks and Tyson Chandler, but the two parties could be reunited on the floor again on Monday night.
Injury updates: @tysonchandler and @BenoUdrih1 are both listed as questionable for tonight, per @NY_KnicksPR.
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 13, 2014
Chandler last appeared in a game on January 5th against the Dallas Mavericks, and he has missed the last 3 games with what has been characterized as an “upper respiratory illness”. Surprisingly, the Knicks have won 4 straight games (including all 3 of those played without Chandler), but it would still be difficult to say, in any context, that New York isn’t a different team without him.
On the year, the 7-foot-1 center has only appeared in 13 games due to various ailments, but he’s been his normally productive self, averaging 7.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 55.7% from the field. Still, his role has been reduced a bit (down to 27.5 minutes per game), and at 31 years old, it is very likely that Chandler’s best basketball is behind him.
It would be a very, very good thing for the Knicks (who famously don’t own their 2014 1st-round pick) to get Chandler on the floor, and even if he doesn’t come back on Monday night, his return seems to be around the corner.