This is not good for the Knicks. Not good at all.
Starting center and defensive anchor Tyson Chandler will be out 4-6 weeks with a small non-displaced fracture of the right fibula, the team announced. He will be out 4 to 6 weeks.
Here’s what you need to know — the Knicks’ defense allows just 92.2 points per 100 possessions when Chandler is on the court and 107.1 when he sits. That’s 15 points per 100 possessions (and there are usually just shy of 100 possessions per game). The Knicks also get killed in rebounding when Chandler sits.
It’s bad.
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The injury occurred in the first quarter Tuesday when Chandler banged knees with Kemba Walker of the Bobcats. Chandler went to the bench then had to be helped back to the locker room. By the way, the Knicks went on to lose to the Bobcats and fall to 1-3 on the season.
The only other legitimate center they have on the roster is Cole Aldrich, who is frankly a fringe NBA player, a guy on the league bubble. Coach Mike Woodson said this will mean more Kenyon Martin (he was forced into action in what was supposed to be a night off Tuesday), but prior to that game he hadn’t played more than 16 minutes a night and was platooning with the also banged up Amare Stoudemire. There will be more Stoudemire too, Woodson said.
There is Andrea Bargnani in the roster, but you can’t expect him to play defense (or do much else well so far this season).
The Knicks have a big problem here. They should go back to Carmelo Anthony at the four and try to figure out a center rotation, but there really are no good answers.
They are still a playoff team in the East, but if the next month they struggle then cannot get higher than a 5 seed in the playoffs, it is a long road from there to where owner James Dolan thinks they should be.