The New York Knicks welcomed back shooting guard Tim Hardaway Jr. in their home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, which they lost 118-108. The streaky shooter missed out 20 games due to a stress reaction in his leg — a type of injury that is tricky in nature.

The son of NBA great Tim Hardaway did not disappoint in his return game, hitting four 3-pointers in 25 minutes on the floor, en route to scoring 25 total points.

In an article by Marc Berman for the New York Post, the 6-foot-6 guard out of the University of Michigan revealed his biggest surprise in his comeback night.

“Conditioning felt good actually,’’ Hardaway said. “I was very surprised. It will take a couple of games before I get a feeling of who I am on the floor.’’

Hardaway was a welcome sight for fans inside Madison Square Garden as he was expected to be among the team's top players after signing a lucrative contract back in the offseason. He has turned surprised doubters into believers after averaging 19.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game in the month of November prior to getting hurt.

As good as his first game back turned out, though, head coach Jeff Hornacek won't push his luck.

“The stress reaction, we don’t want to throw him out there — here you go, you’re back to what you were six weeks ago,’’ Hornacek said. “We’ll see how it goes, but keep it as low as we can so we can build him up.’’

“Yeah he looked good — you can tell he wasn’t up to his speed,’’ Hornacek said. “That’s going to take a little while. His speed even at this [stage] is faster than a lot of our guys. His speed will pick up and ability to drive to the basket. Maybe he’s not ready to make that two-set drive from the top of the key.”

The Knicks are very much in the thick of the playoff race as they are three games behind the Indiana Pacers for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.