WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- For four weeks, Lance Thomas sat helpless as his Knicks team fell from a potential playoff contender to the NBA’s laughing stock.
Thomas ate an inadvertent elbow from Raptors big man Jonas Valanciunas that broke his face in mid-January, a devastating blow to a season already knick-knacked by plantar fasciitis and an ankle injury.
“I thought my teeth were falling out,’’ he said. “I was literally holding my mouthguard up because I thought my teeth were falling out. It was a hard hit.’’
But Thomas made his return on Sunday, the four-week eve of his injury, and contributed 17 valuable minutes to the Knicks’ 94-90 win over the San Antonio Spurs — a win that snapped a four-game losing streak and helped the team avoid its first 0-5 home stretch in franchise history.