The Knicks are a starcrossed franchise. Over the past 40 years, superstars and All-Stars alike have graced the floor of 'The Mecca' in Knick unis, but the championship cupboard has been bare for a long time. However, in the span of a week, their slim but reasonable championship hopes have gone up in smoke. While Carmelo Anthony inexplicably collapsed and clutched his knee at midcourt against Cleveland, Knicks fans harkened back to Bernard King. When 'Melo returned to the Knicks lineup on Monday night, he couldn't hit a teeball off the stand. In 34 minutes, 'Melo missed 11 of 15 shots and after the game, he didn't sound that optimistic about how well his right knee can recover. According to the New York Daily News, 'Melo's knees has been out of whack since Christmas Day.
"Nobody can really give me an exact answer on it," Anthony said early Monday. "There's no pain, no ligament damage or anything like that. There's just some fluid in the back of the knee that's preventing me from hyper-extending my knee sometimes." Anthony, who was expecting to return to the lineup after being sidelined for three games, then made a sobering admission by stating: "I don't think I'll ever be 100 percent."
Anthony, who was expecting to return to the lineup after being sidelined for three games, then made a sobering admission by stating: "I don't think I'll ever be 100 percent."
The mystery about Anthony's right knee took another strange turn when Anthony said he hasn't been the same since suffering a knee injury in the Christmas Day loss to the Lakers. However, in that game it was Anthony's left knee that was hyper-extended and caused him to miss two games. Last week, it was soreness to Anthony's right knee that prompted him to leave a game against Cleveland in the second quarter with the Knicks trailing by 22 points.
When asked if the pain he was feeling is just from normal wear and tear, Anthony told reporters: "We've been trying to figure it out, myself, the team the doctors. It could have been something that stemmed from back in Christmas when I hurt my knee in L.A. And over the time it came back and I probably agitated something like that. From that time I didn't feel anything. It was when we played Toronto right before All-Star break when I started feeling it."
Amar'e Stoudemire is also out for at least the next six weeks, and perhaps the entire playoffs, if his recovery doesn't progress as expected. It's alright, Knickerbocker fans, we know 'Melo and Amar'e aren't the only ones hurting. We feel your pain.
