Can Knicks beat Thunder minus Carmelo Anthony?
Carmelo Anthony during an early 2012 game. (Jan. 2, 2012) Credit: Jim McIsaac
OKLAHOMA CITY -- By his estimation, it would take a miracle for Carmelo Anthony to play against the Thunder Saturday night. Thus, the Knicks will have a head start on proving that moving the ball and playing crisp offense -- no matter who is in the lineup -- is less than miraculous.
After he sat out a long, spirited and reportedly productive practice at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Friday, Anthony basically repeated what he said after suffering a sprained left wrist and sprained right ankle during a 94-83 loss in Memphis Thursday night: "I'm beat up."
He wore a brace on his wrist but had shed his protective boot even though the ankle seems to be the more problematic injury. He said he is shooting to return Monday at home against the Magic. "If a miracle happens and I can come back [Saturday], I'll do that,'' Anthony said, "but my thing is just to do what I've got to do, stay around the clock and get the treatment I need."
Bill Walker will start in his place, Mike D'Antoni said, adding that he is very hopeful that Jared Jeffries (sore right calf) will be able to return Saturday.
Of course, there is no replacing Anthony, who's averaging 25.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists. In fact, his departure early in the second half Thursday reminded the Knicks how much they had been relying on him.
So now, like it or not, the Knicks must move the ball and move themselves, which they realize they should have been doing all along anyway. It will be a particular opportunity for the team to rediscover why Amar'e Stoudemire was an MVP candidate much of last season. Stoudemire is averaging a respectable 19.2 points and 8.3 rebounds but has not been dominant.
"He's a product of what we're not doing as a team," D'Antoni said. "We're not getting space, we're not shooting the ball [well] because there's no rhythm, there's no rhyme or reason for anything. We've just got to get back to the basics and try to get it smoother."
Asked what the team will look like against the Thunder (10-2), Stoudemire answered, "Like the New York Knicks. We definitely have got a chance to win. Oklahoma City is playing great, but we have the personnel to win the game. We've got a challenge, but we're ready to accept it."
D'Antoni called the rare extended practice -- which ended with a long full-court scrimmage involving nine subs and assistant coach Kenny Atkinson and drew lots of cheering from Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler on the bench -- "more of a class in session, where we had to really focus in on what it takes to become a better offensive team."
That entails ball movement, creating open shots and remembering how well everyone played in Sacramento two weeks ago when Stoudemire was out with a sprained ankle. Granted, the Thunder is eons ahead of the Kings, but Stoudemire recalls having correctly predicted big things of his replacement, Josh Harrellson. So he said of Walker, "He's going to have a great game. I guarantee he's going to play well."
Anthony was told that the scrimmage ended with an emphatic alley-oop dunk by Renaldo Balkman. "See," he said, "everybody's stepping up already."
