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Knicks-Spurs Preview

Mar 9, 2010 - 9:36 PM By KATE HEDLIN STATS Writer

New York (22-41) at San Antonio (36-25), 8:30 p.m. EDT

Tony Parker won't need surgery on his broken right hand, which should be good news for the San Antonio Spurs come playoff time.

In the present, however, they will need to find ways to win without their second-leading scorer.

The Spurs, losers of three straight when Parker is out of the lineup, host the New York Knicks on Wednesday night.

Parker is expected to miss about six weeks, but may be able to return for the playoffs upon learning that he will not need surgery, which could have ended his season.

The Spurs (36-25) are in seventh place in the West, 4 1/2 games ahead of ninth-place Memphis.

"Everything is by degrees. That would be worse if he needed surgery, so I guess it makes me feel better," coach Gregg Popovich said.

Parker has dealt with injuries all season and San Antonio fell to 5-6 without him in a 97-95 loss to Cleveland on Monday. The Cavaliers played without LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal as they snapped the Spurs' four-game winning streak.

Manu Ginobili, making his second start of the season, finished with a season-high 38 points. He has averaged 18.1 points in 10 games without Parker, up from his 14.6 season average.

Parker helped key a 95-88 win over the Knicks on Dec. 27, scoring 22 points while Ginobili had 17. The Spurs have won six straight against New York (22-41) in San Antonio.

The Knicks defeated Atlanta 99-98 on Monday and are looking to win back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game winning streak Jan. 1-7.

New York shot 50.6 percent and was 10 of 15 from 3-point range in its third consecutive win over the Hawks. The Knicks bounced back from going 0 for 18 from beyond the arc in a 113-93 loss to league-worst New Jersey on Saturday.

Danilo Gallinari scored 27 points against Atlanta and David Lee had 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks, who survived a replay of Al Horford's basket that was ruled to have left his hands after the buzzer.

Gallinari, who went 4 of 5 from 3-point range, averaged 17.4 points in the last five games.

"He was the star of the game. He did an unbelievable job for us," Lee said. "Gallo played well on both ends for us."

Lee had 28 points and shot 11 of 13 while grabbing 10 rebounds against the Spurs in December. Gallinari added 19 points but was 5 of 13 from the floor, while Al Harrington scored 19.

Forward Tracy McGrady sat out Monday to rest his surgically repaired knee, and the Knicks said they will take it day by day with him. McGrady has a career 22.2-point average against the Spurs, although he has not faced them since Nov. 14, 2008, when he scored seven points and shot 2 of 12.