Fair or unfair, the Knicks' playoff aspirations fall squarely on the shoulders of their leader Carmelo Anthony. Yet that might be a bit burdensome at the moment for Melo as his right shoulder has been in constant pain since he injured it against the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 11.
Anthony has missed just one game due to his shoulder injury and continues to play through it despite needing "around-the-clock treatment."
From the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy:
"It's bad," Anthony told the News after Friday's victory over the Bucks, when the forward nearly put up a triple-double and hit the go-ahead basket in the final minute. "You know what it is, it's an adjustment that you have to make on the fly. Like some days it feels good, some days it's tight. Throughout the course of the game, certain shots, certain moves, you feel like the strength isn't there. So it's just a matter of figuring out how to play through it. What's working? What's not?
"It feels good during the game. And then you irritate it. And then you kind of have to work backwards again to get it back stronger. But I'm constant around-the-clock treatment."
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So has he thought about sitting out a game, like Saturday against the Pacers in the second game of a back-to-back?
"Not yet. Not yet," Anthony told the News. "Especially now when we're in the grind and in the thick of things and we kind of have a chance to get back above .500. And we have some teams that we feel that are some winnable games. So that decision is. ... they're going to have to tell me to take a couple off. Cause I'm not doing it."
Anthony has played in 13 games since injuring his shoulder and has averaged 21.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists while shooting 40.3 percent and 38.6 percent from three. Those are actually pretty decent numbers but Anthony has had three dismal shooting nights in that stretch and played limited minutes in a loss to the Hawks due to an ejection. Yet despite Anthony toughing it out and playing fine, the Knicks haven't played as well, going 3-7 in their last 10 games and are now 10th in the East.
Anthony's lingering shoulder issue presents a problem for the Knicks. Do they rest him now so he can be healthy later? Or do they allow him to just play through it, knowing that he is not at a hundred percent?
While Anthony resting may be the most prudent option, the Knicks are fighting to make the postseason and don't have another proven scorer off the bench to replace him with. The Knicks do have All-Star level talent with Porzingis and Derrick Rose and Brandon Jennings could also provide a scoring punch but having Anthony gives New York yet another option and one that is necessary for them, especially in late-game situations.
Anthony's injury is just one of the several problems plaguing the Knicks this season and, unfortunately, it looks to be one New York just has to deal with as it looks to make the postseason for the first time in three years.
