Carmelo Anthony appears a lock to start his sixth All-Star game in row
Carmelo Anthony looks on against the Brooklyn Nets at Madison Square Garden. (Jan. 22, 2014) Credit: Jim McIsaac
Carmelo Anthony is expected to be named to start his sixth straight All-Star Game when the league announces its starting lineups tonight in a special one-hour edition of "Inside the NBA" on TNT.
Because centers are no longer listed separately in the balloting, the top three frontcourt vote-getters will get the nod to start the game in New Orleans on Feb. 16. When the league last released the votes, Anthony was in third place behind LeBron James of Miami and Paul George of Indiana. The Pacers' Roy Hibbert was a distance fourth, trailing Anthony 702,869-385,964.
Anthony entered Wednesday night's game against the 76ers as the league's third-leading scorer, averaging 26.1 points per game.
K-Mart, Peace better
The Knicks certainly could use some reinforcements in the frontcourt. So how is Kenyon Martin's left ankle sprain doing? Martin was hurt in the Jan. 16 loss to the Pacers. "I'm good," Martin said before Wednesday night's game. He went on to add that the earliest he can be expected to return is the Feb. 1 game against the Heat. Martin would have been out two weeks by then.
Metta World Peace worked out for close to two hours before Wednesday night's game. He previously had said that he would not rush his return to the court.
World Peace, who underwent platelet-rich plasma therapy on his troublesome left knee, said he is targeting Tuesday's game against Boston for his return.
