The New York Knicks enter Monday night's game against the Houston Rockets with a 4-10 record. Clearly the team is struggling, and the schedule just keeps coming at them. It is not going to get any easier from here on out, but the Knicks need to try to string together some wins before it becomes too late.
Carmelo Anthony has been playing great as of late, and he started the game in the same fashion before hurting himself late in the second quarter. Anthony slowly walked to the locker room before halftime and stayed there for the remainder of the game. Melo's night ended with 14 points and seven rebounds. In his absence, nobody on the Knicks stepped up. Not one player, outside of Anthony, scored in double figures. That just proves how much Anthony means to this struggling team.
The Houston Rockets were without star center Dwight Howard, but they still had their other star James Harden who had a big game, scoring 36 points while shooting 11-of-22 from the field in 40 minutes of play. Harden was red hot from beyond the arc, making 7 three-point shots. The Knicks are second to last in three-point defense, and it definitely showed in this game, as the Rockets were a plus-24 from three-point territory.
It is still unclear whether Carmelo would play Wednesday night against the Dallas Mavericks. Coach Derek Fisher said in his post-game interview that Carmelo would get an MRI in the morning and go from there.
The Houston Rockets will host the Sacramento Kings at the Toyota Center in their next game which is on November 26.
The Rockets improve to 11-3 on the season, while the Knicks drop to 4-11.