Carmelo Anthony expects to return to the New York Knicks' lineup Wednesday night against the Orlando Magic.
Anthony has missed three straight and
six of the last eight games because of problems with his right knee. He
had fluid drained from the back of the knee after struggling through the
two games he played during that stretch, and said after the Knicks'
morning shootaround he feels much better.
"I know how important
this stretch run is for us, for me, for our whole organization," Anthony
said. "I went out there and tried to play hurt, banged up, it didn't
work. I was only hurting my teammates by going out there and trying to
play, so I'm not rushing back. But tonight I feel good, I felt good the
last couple of days, so I'm going to see what happens."
Anthony
said he first felt pain in the fourth quarter of a March 3 loss to
Miami, then said something didn't feel right when he woke up the next
morning for a game in Cleveland. He fell to the court without contact
while trying to catch a pass in the first half of that game and sat out
the next three with what was called a stiff and sore knee.
He
came back for the opener of the Knicks' trip at Golden State on March 11
and was dismal in his return to Denver two nights later. He left early
in the second half and returned to New York the next day to have the
procedure.
The Knicks' frontcourt has been decimated by
injuries, with All-Star center Tyson Chandler expected to miss a week
with a bulging disk. He joins reserves Amare Stoudemire, Rasheed Wallace
and Kurt Thomas, who all will be sidelined for weeks.
Coach
Mike Woodson said he expects Anthony to join Kenyon Martin, Iman
Shumpert, Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni in the starting lineup
Wednesday. The Knicks' Atlantic Division lead is down to just one game
over Brooklyn after they went 1-4 on the trip.
"We've got to get
healthy. The guys that need to get healthy, need to get healthy, take
their time and the guys that's playing just need to step up," Anthony
said. "That's all I've got to say about that." (NBA 2013)
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