Houston to return?

Link:Allan Houston attended last night’s game and was a surprise visitor to the Knicks’ morning shootaround in Greenburgh. The former Knicks shooting guard has remained noncommittal about a possible comeback.

At least two NBA coaches believe that Houston is planning to play again. Houston, whose contract expires this summer, retired in October 2005 with chronic knee pain. Until then, he remains the second highest paid player in the league at $20.7 million behind Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett ($21 million).

Q ANSWERS: It is looking more and more like Quentin Richardson won’t play again this season. A person close to the Knicks veteran guard said that Richardson, who has missed seven consecutive games with a sore lower back, is leaning toward sitting out the final 11games because of chronic pain.

Richardson has avoided speaking publicly since pulling himself out of a March 14 game at Toronto. The Knicks do not believe that Richardson’s injury is career threatening. However, the Knicks were not able to get Richardson’s contract insured when they acquired him from the Phoenix Suns for Kurt Thomas. Meanwhile, David Lee, who tried to return last week against Cleveland, is out indefinitely with a stress reaction in his right leg. When asked about both Richardson and Lee, Isiah Thomas said: “I don’t know. The guys that we have we’ll do the best we can. We ask the rookies to step up and do some things that they’re just not accustomed to doing.”

MATTER OF TIMING: Thomas became agitated yesterday upon being told before last night’s game that the Knicks are 1-6 since Garden chairman James Dolan gave him a contract extension.

“You can point to that, but you also have to point to that we had three guys (Jamal Crawford, Lee and Richardson) go down,” Thomas said. “So let’s tell the whole story, not just part of it. If those three guys don’t go down and we’re still in this situation, then it’s disappointing. But when you lose those three guys the way we lost them, tell that story too. Just don’t tell part of it.”… Crawford, who has been out since late February, sat on the bench for the first time since having season-ending ankle surgery.