ALBANY – The Knicks are 0-4 without Larry Johnson and now 2-0 with him. LJ, who missed the first four pre-season games with a sprained foot, pumped in all of his 18 points in the first half and grabbed seven rebounds to carry the Knicks to a 89-79 victory over the Wizards last night at Pepsi Arena.
“If I’m not 100 percent, I’m close,” said Johnson, who sank 6-of-7 shots in the first half. “At the end of last season I was a shell of myself. I feel better now than I have in a while, knock on wood. I’m happy the injury didn’t put me out any longer. I didn’t want to go into the season with a nagging injury.”
Allan Houston added 20 points and Latrell Sprewell 15 while Kurt Thomas, having a fine preseason, snared 12 rebounds and scored nine points on 4-of-7 shooting.