Raymond Felton back in lineup
By Peter Kerasotis | Special to ESPNNewYork.com
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Raymond Felton is back in the lineup after missing six games, but Metta World Peace is still unavailable to the New York Knicks as the team plays the Orlando Magic on Monday night.
World Peace said pregame that he's going to have a blood plasma procedure on his balky left knee on Jan. 6. He will undergo blood-spinning treatment, which medically is called platelet-rich plasma treatment.
The forward said he was going to try and play between now and the scheduled procedure. After receiving the treatment, doctors recommend sitting out for two weeks, but World Peace hopes to return sooner.
World Peace, 34, said he's had the knee drained several times this year. Last season, when he played for the Los Angeles Lakers, he tore his meniscus, had minor surgery, and returned in 12 days.
Meanwhile, Knicks coach Mike Woodson pronounced Felton's ailing left hamstring well enough for the point guard to return to the starting lineup against the Magic.
'He gave me the indication that he's ready to go, so we're going to play him,' Woodson said.
The coach added that not having Felton consistently in the lineup, along with other key injuries, has impeded the team's chemistry. While trying to manage the hamstring, Felton has played in spurts this season. He last played Dec. 11.
'Missing Raymond for all those games, it's been a struggle,' Woodson said. 'We've just had a lot of injuries, key guys out. Camp was kind of tough to get guys going at a high level because we had some injuries in camp. I think not having J.R. [Smith] the first five games put us behind because we just didn't have the chemistry once he came back. Then Tyson [Chandler] went down very early, and that didn't help matters. We've been kind of mixing and matching. Hopefully now we're starting to get bodies back.'
Woodson added that although Felton, 29, was starting against the Magic, he didn't want to 'burn him out early' with too much playing time and risk having him re-injure the hamstring.
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