Raymond Felton Thinks He’ll Miss 4-6 Weeks With Broken Pinkie


by Marcel Mutoni @ marcel_mutoni

New York Knicks starting point guard Raymond Felton has insisted on playing through finger injuries this season, but he may soon have no choice but to go on the Chillin’ List.

According to Felton, his right pinkie is broken, and surgery would have him in street clothes for the next four-to-six weeks.

Felton suffered the injury during the Christmas Day game against the Los Angeles Lakers. Last night in Phoenix, prior to the thrilling last-second Knicks victory, a halftime X-ray bore the bad news.

Per Newsday:

It revealed a fracture, news that Felton said left him feeling “a lot of things. I was hurt. I was angry. But it happens. It was a freak accident. Can’t be too upset. Just have to do what I’ve got to do and get the treatment so I can get back.” Initially Felton described the injury as a sprained ligament, suffered when he and the Lakers’ Steve Nash were going for a ball on Tuesday.

But that proved to be overly optimistic. Felton was to return to New York Thursday to be evaluated by team doctors. He said surgery is a possibility. If that is the course of action, Felton said, there is no reason to believe it would end his season, but it could cost him four to six weeks. Coach Mike Woodson said, “We just have to go back and assess it and see where we are and go from there.” Woodson said if Felton is out for an extended period Jason Kidd and Pablo Prigioni will share most responsibility for the point guard position, with J.R. Smith also contributing. “We can mix and match and see what happens,” Woodson said.

Raymond Felton, suffering from bruises in both hands, has regressed following a strong start this season, and is now mired in a shooting slump that has dropped his field goal accuracy down to 39.6%.