Baron Davis struggles with neck injury during 111-107 victory against ... - New York Daily News

Jeffrey Phelps/AP

J.R. Smith joins the Knicks backcourt in place of a limited Baron Davis during the second half of Wednesday's win.

MILWAUKEE â€" Baron Davis’ health continues to be a major concern. The veteran guard, who injured his neck in Tuesday’s loss to Chicago, played just 19 minutes Wednesday night and had five turnovers.

Mike Bibby played nine minutes, and third-string guard Toney Douglas was a DNP as Mike Woodson went most of the second half with J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert in the backcourt.

The Knicks, of course, had their point-guard issues solved for 25 games during the height of Linsanity, but with Jeremy Lin out with a knee injury and Davis breaking down, Woodson is experiencing the same problem Mike D’Antoni was forced to deal with in December. Woodson wants to limit Davis to between 25 and 30 minutes but he needs a suitable backup.

Lin, who had surgery last week to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, is expected to be out another four to five weeks. Chauncey Billups was targeted to be the starting point guard, but the club waived Billups under the amnesty clause in order to sign Tyson Chandler.

POWER BROKER
Carmelo Anthony continues to flourish at power forward. He scored 32 points on 13-for-26 shooting.

Anthony also played well despite injuring his right wrist in the first half and jamming the fingers on his left hand while trying to run around a screen in the second half.

Anthony was so upset that he slammed the ball to the floor and received a technical foul.

AMAR’E WORKS OUT
Amar’e Stoudemire went through another 20-minute workout before Wednesday night’s win,but the Knicks will not say when or if he will return. It has been two weeks since Stoudemire, suffering from a bulging disc in his back, received an epidural. The Knicks had given a timetable of two to four weeks for Stoudemire, who missed his ninth straight game last night.

JEFFRIES HURTING
Jared Jeffries is trying to fight through the pain of an injured right knee but he admits it’s been a struggle.

“I’ve been better, Jeffries said.

Woodson admits that he has to limit Jeffries’ minutes. On Tuesday, Jeffries played 14 minutes and had no lift in his legs. Against the Bucks he played nine minutes and scored four points. After the season, he will meet with doctors to determine if surgery is needed.