National Basketball Association

Will 'Melo be back to face Magic?

Published Jan. 16, 2012 12:00 a.m. ET

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The New York Knicks are taking it day by day, and minute by minute, with superstar Carmelo Anthony's injured ankle. But getting him back on the court quickly may be wishful thinking.

The Knicks' leading scorer spent the majority of his Sunday getting treatment on his sprained right ankle, the New York Post reported. He told the Post that he started running in a pool, but had not yet tested the injury on the floor.

Anthony admitted that chances were remote about him returning to face Dwight Howard's Orlando Magic on Monday.

“It felt good in the water,” Anthony said Sunday of his pool workouts at the Knicks' practice facility. “You’re not using all of your body weight in the pool, so it felt good. But I’m going to go test it out right now on the court, and maybe a little more tonight and early in the morning, and we’ll see what happens.”

Anthony, averaging 25.5 points per game (fourth in NBA), sat out nearly the entire second half on Thursday after getting hurt vs. the Memphis Grizzlies. He also missed New York's loss Saturday at Oklahoma City. In both games, the Knicks ended up losing by double digits, with lack of offense being a main culprit.

The two losses have dropped the Knicks to 6-6 on the season, three games behind the Philadelphia 76ers in the Atlantic Division.

Anthony, battling multiple injuries, also hurt his wrist vs. the Grizzlies coming off a pick in the first quarter and came back into the game with it taped.

But early in the third quarter, he was done for the night after grabbing a loose ball, and being tripped up by Memphis center Marc Gasol, who lunged at his ankle.

NewsCore contributed to this report.