The Knicks had a welcome visitor Monday to their practice facility in Tarrytown: Cleanthony Early.
“He came in, he was in good spirits,” Arron Afflalo said. “He’s, I’m sure, recovering the right way.”
Early was robbed, then shot in the knee, in an attack by up to six thugs early Wednesday after he left a Queens strip club. The team obviously was shaken by Early’s ordeal, so the visit was “good for everybody,” said coach Derek Fisher, who added the wounded forward was looking “good, real good.”
“It’s good to hear his voice – just his presence. He was able to walk around a little bit, even though he’s on crutches, but it’s just good to see him. Good to have him back,” Carmelo Anthony said. “His spirits are good. Anytime you can come in here and be around what you do, be around your peers, be around the people that care about you, that’s a good spirit.”
For a second straight month, the Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis (Eastern Conference) and Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns (Western) were named the NBA Kia Rookies of the Month.
Porzingis averaged 12.6 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in December while compiling four double-doubles. The 7-foot-3 Porzingis was the fourth pick last June; Towns was the first overall selection.
Carmelo Anthony, with 21,635 points, good for 37th place, is 156 points behind Larry Bird on the all-time list.
“I’m going to get that tomorrow,” Anthony deadpanned, before growing serious.
“When you look at the game and the history of the game, as a player, as a kid, you always look and say, ‘I want to do that, I want to do that,’ regardless of what it is, what it may be. So for me to be kind of right there, in that mix with a legend like Larry Bird and other guys that are in front of me that I have the opportunity to catch, that’s an honor,” Anthony said.
Some more games like Sunday’s, when he scored 38 points on 17 shots (including 7-of-8 on 3-pointers), and Arron Afflalo could land on somebody’s career list. Knicks coach Derek Fisher noted “how the 3-point shot has really continued to just change the game” and stressed the strong passing game of Anthony, who only took 10 shots. Anthony said he no longer has to be the guy like in his younger years in Denver.
“To be honest with you, I probably wouldn’t have been at ease because I was the guy that always had to go out there and score 30, score 40 points, to even try to be in a close game and try to have a chance to win,” Anthony said. “Now, with the makeup of this team, I don’t really have to do that. I feel a lot more comfortable now with only taking 10 shots on certain nights and letting somebody else have a breakout game and let other guys get involved and get their confidence up.”
Fisher said he was unaware of any talks about adding a player until Early returns.
“Not that I’ve been involved in at this point,” Fisher said.