Carmelo Anthony sprains ankle vs. Magic, upcoming status uncertain
Carmelo Anthony sounds optimistic, but that doesn't mean things are looking up after the Knicks star sprained his ankle during Monday evening's home loss to the Magic.
From Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:
Carmelo Anthony sprained his ankle in Monday’s 107-99 loss to the Magic and wasn’t sure about his status for Wednesday’s game at Cleveland.
“I don’t know,” he said. “As of right now, I’m playing.”
Anthony got tangled up with Robin Lopez late in the third quarter and apparently turned his ankle, before undergoing treatment to “keep it loose.” Anthony, who finished with 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting, played nine minutes in the fourth quarter but acknowledged the pain sapped his aggression. He took just two shots in the final period, as Orlando went on its game-breaking run to beat New York for the second time this season.
“Coming back in the fourth quarter, I didn’t really try to be aggressive,” Anthony said. “I was finding Lance (Thomas) out there because he had it going. It was kind of more of me being a facilitator than being in attack mode at that moment.”
There is still no word on Anthony's official status for Wednesday night's contest against the Cavaliers. Obviously, Melo is amped for that one against LeBron James & Co., but he also has to take the long view here, something he's not exactly known for doing after pushing to play on an obviously injured knee last season in order to particpate in the Knicks' international game in London and the New York City-based All-Star Game.
The irony here is that Anthony actually just commented on his knee getting better.
"I'm starting to feel like myself again," he told ESPN's Ian Begley just the other day.
Now, he goes down with another ailment. Hopefully, it's not too serious.
