Curry Is Likely To Play With Injured Shoulder

Link:Eddy Curry was back at full-contact practice yesterday, despite having just torn his labrum last week in Charleston. And despite sporting an odd-looking brace on his injured right shoulder, both Curry and coach Isiah Thomas proclaimed the hulking center a sure thing to start in tomorrow’s preseason game against Boston.

“It was good. I killed Malik [Rose], Jerome [James], all the usual suspects. I felt good,” said Curry, who wasn’t hindered or shielded from contract at all yesterday. “We were just playing. I didn’t try to avoid any contact. I went out there and played. I’m sure those guys were conscious of it, but we just played.”

He’s officially listed as probable, but when asked if he expected to play tomorrow, Curry responded with an emphatic “definitely.” He said he can’t further injure the shoulder by playing, and even hoped to convince team orthopedist Dr. Answorth Allen to let him play without the brace.

The brace consists of two straps criss-crossed around his torso, more straps on his shoulder and upper arm, then special tubes connecting both sets of straps. They limit his range of motion - preventing another subluxation - and also serve the added benefit of resistance strength-training.

“I’m working on trying to get out of it. But I think the doctors want me to keep it on. They want me to keep it on for about two weeks,” Curry said. “You feel it. I don’t want to wear it. I’ve got to try to win that argument with them.”

Thomas insists the brace won’t slow down Curry, saying that lately nothing has really slowed the 24-year-old center who averaged a career-high 19.5 points on 57.6 percent shooting last year - fourth in the NBA - and has come back in dominant form.

“He has a dominant mindset right now. He looks to dominate now instead of just looking to play,” Thomas said. “He’s not just playing basketball; He’s really trying to dominate the opponent and dominate the game.”

The Knicks may still have to wait a little while longer to work on Curry’s on-court chemistry with offseason acquisition Zach Randolph.

The power forward missed practice yesterday for personal reasons, and Thomas was noncommittal about whether he was expected back in time to play tomorrow.