Carmelo Anthony was forced out of Monday night’s game against the Rockets with back spasms, and he was dealing with severe pain long after the game was finished.
Anthony has been ruled out of Wednesday night’s contest in Dallas, and it’s unlikely he plays Friday when the team visits Oklahoma City.
The Knicks haven’t been very good even with Anthony in the fold, but without him, it’s tough to see how they can create enough offense to compete most nights. And with the tricky nature of this particular injury, the team is reportedly concerned that it could linger as the season progresses.
From Marc Berman of the New York Post:A grimacing Anthony hobbled out of Monday’s game with 1:45 left in the first half and tried to fight off the pain in the locker room. He was still in pain nearly two hours later and was sent to an urgent-care facility to receive heavy-duty pain medication that was not kept at the arena, according the Knicks.
It appears Anthony injured his back landing awkwardly after a jump shot. It’s unclear if the injury is related to a more chronic disk issue. ...
The concerns are whether this becomes a season-long issue and related to the disk. Amar’e Stoudemire experienced severe back spasms in the 2011 playoffs after a pregame trick-dunk maneuver. It wasn’t until much later the Knicks revealed he had damage to his disk.
It seems unnecessary for Knicks fans to completely panic at this point, mainly because this season was expected to be somewhat of a lost cause before it even started.
The plan, though, was for Anthony to use this year to get acclimated to the intricacies of playing within the Triangle Offense, and for Phil Jackson to evaluate which of the players currently in place would be good fits for the system as he looks at future ways of reshaping the roster.
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If Anthony is sidelined for an extended period of time, that obviously throws a wrench into things. Of greater concern is that he is in the first year of a contract that will guarantee him $123 million over five seasons, and if something serious occurs from an injury standpoint, the team will be doomed for years to come.
With all of that being said, Anthony is only slated to miss two games for now, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.