CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Charlotte Bobcats' top-scorer Jason Richardson practiced Tuesday for the first time since undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery and could play Wednesday in Toronto.
Richardson has missed six straight games since waking up with pain and swelling his right knee on Nov. 12, a day after scoring 23 points in a loss to Denver. Doctors performed exploratory surgery and found no structural damage.Richardson recently had the stitches removed and had been doing some light shooting and running before his first full practice Tuesday morning.
"It felt good," Richardson said. "It's still a little weak, but it was good to finally get out there 100 percent moving around, shooting and running up and down the court. We didn't do a lot of contact, but it felt good."
Richardson, averaging 17.6 points, said there was no swelling in the knee after practice. While coach Larry Brown sounded confident he'll start at shooting guard against the Raptors, Richardson said he wanted to wait and see how the knee feels in the morning.
"We'll just have to see how it reacts," Richardson said. "We're just trying to figure out the best scenario and be sure when I come back it's 100 percent instead of halfway."
Richardson's return should boost the NBA's lowest-scoring team, but mean the end of Brown's pairing of point guards Raymond Felton and D.J. Augustin in the starting lineup. They combined for 48 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds in Charlotte's 93-84 win over Philadelphia on Monday, which snapped a four-game losing streak.
Brown indicated Felton likely would return to point guard and Augustin would come off the bench despite scoring 20 or more points in three of the past four games. Still, Brown plans to give Augustin plenty of minutes as he tightens his rotation.
"When I got the job and we drafted D.J., I was hopeful to rotate J-Rich, Raymond and D.J. and have a three-man rotation," Brown said.
