'Melo points, the draft and Sesame Street

If Carmelo Anthony scores at least 35 points Sunday night against the Cavaliers, he will join Bernard King and Dick Barnett as the only Knick players to record 35 points or more in four consecutive games. King has the franchise record with five straight from Dec. 21-29, 1984.

Anthony's three straight so far, which includes 39 points in each of the last two games, is the most since Patrick Ewing had three straight 35-plus games from Jan. 19-23, 1994, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Amar'e Stoudemire set a franchise-record earlier this season with nine-straight 30-point performances, but during that streak he did not hit over 35 points in more than two consecutive games.

What should be pointed out is that Anthony has been efficient with his scoring, shooting 53.3 percent (40-for-75) from the field, 40 percent (8-for-20) from three-point range and 83.8 percent (26-for-31) from the foul line in the last three games.

Only two other times in the NBA this season has a player recorded three straight games with 35 points or more:

Monta Ellis, Golden State Warriors

Dec. 20: 44 points vs. Rockets

Dec. 21: 36 points vs. Kings

Dec. 25: 39 points Trail Blazers

LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland Trail Blazers

Feb. 7: 42 points vs. Bulls

Feb. 11: 37 points vs. Raptors

Feb. 13: 36 points vs. Pistons

Carmelo Anthony, Knicks

March 26: 36 points vs. Bobcats

March 28: 39 points vs. Magic

March 30: 39 points vs. Nets

Preparing for the draft

The NCAA Tournament provides the best opportunity to get a peek at some potential prospects the Knicks can target in the upcoming draft. This is yet another critical draft for the Knicks, who have a pick in the first round, but don't in 2012.

First, let's clear up a misconception: The Houston Rockets have the right to swap picks this year, as part of last season's salary cap-clearing Tracy McGrady trade, but the Rockets (39-36) are three games out of the final playoff berth in the West. As long as the Knicks make the playoffs and Houston doesn't, the Rockets would be in the lottery and would have no reason to swap picks.

The Knicks, as the seventh seed in the East, are projected to have the 16th overall pick, which many draft experts say is the ideal location in a draft that isn't top heavy with talent, but does have plenty of potential through the middle of the first round.

BYU's Jimmer Fredette might have played himself into a lottery pick, but there's little doubt if he slips to the teens (do the Jazz, who will have two lottery picks, one courtesy of the Nets, really pass on him twice?), the Knicks could take the sharp-shooting guard. UConn's dynamic Kemba Walker, a Bronx native, may dream of teaming up with Carmelo, but there's no chance he'll make it out of the top 10. The Knicks would have to trade up and that might take packaging their pick, cash and most likely Toney Douglas to see if anyone was willing.

The focus this year, however, appears to be on finding talented size and length and that could mean either Morris kid from Kansas (Marcus or Markieff), Richmond's intriguing Justin Harper or even Morehead State's Kenneth Faried, a relentless rebounder from Newark.

On the European circuit, the Knicks almost certainly have their eyes on 7-foot Lithuanian Donatas Motiejunas, a lefty whose limitless skill set would fit perfectly in Mike D'Antoni's offense, but there are questions about the 20-year-old's readiness, rebounding and -- gulp -- defense.

Just a random thought, but how much would Knicks fans cringe to see them draft Washington's lightning-quick Isaiah Thomas? 

Sesame streetball

Stoudemire and Anthony are still getting to know the city of New York, but they both paid a visit to one of its most famous neighborhoods: Sesame Street.

The two were at the show's Astoria studios on Thursday's off day to shoot a scene for an upcoming episode. The scene, which includes Grover wearing a Knicks sweatsuit, teaches comparisons -- same and different -- and at one point, Anthony takes a shot on a hoop tacked up over a garage (nice touch) and says, "I can shoot the ball in the basket." Stoudemire takes a turn and the shot falls short, but he still looked into the camera and said, "And I can shoot the ball in the basket," before he broke into laughter. Grover then looked at the camera and said, "He can, he can. He just didn't want to."

After two more takes, Stoudemire finally did get one to actually go in. Perhaps the bigger concern for Stoudemire, who had just one rebound in 30 minutes against the Nets, was that Grover was in better position for the rebound on those misses. 

LeBron: Too strong for own good? 

LeBron James believes his uncanny combination of size and strength is used against him when it comes to officiating. The two-time MVP believes he endures more of a physical beating than most players who get the benefit of whistles.

"Sometimes it's unfair because of how strong I am," James told the Miami Herald. "I can take punishment, of course, but at the same time, I just feel like it's unfair sometimes."

James is fifth in the NBA in free throw attempts per game (8.4), but he feels like players are able to take liberties against him -- last week Maurice Evans jumped on James' back on a fast break and no intentional or flagrant foul was called -- mainly because he can withstand the hardest hits.

"I don't know if Mo Evans' intention was to be dirty," James said. "I watch a lot of basketball. I see a lot of basketball every day. Every time someone gets grabbed around the neck, it's an automatic flagrant foul. If I'm wrong, tell me I'm wrong. But it seems like every time I get hit hard or a hard foul and all I get is two shots and they take the ball out." 

Around the NBA

The Nets started selling their premium season tickets for the 2012-13 season, which will be the team's first at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn. The idea is to allow current season ticket holders the opportunity to get an early jump on the top tickets for the new arena . . . Your weekly doomsday message about an impending NBA work stoppage after the current CBA expires on June 30: "I'm sure we won't get a deal done by July 1," Maurice Evans, the vice president of the NBA players association, told HoopsHype.com. "Therefore, it technically will be a lockout. Hopefully we're going to solve those issues before the season starts again." 

Tweet of the week

@landryfields: One person with courage is a majority.