Knicks Fall Once More As Defense Is Listless
MINNEAPOLIS - The hunt for encouraging moments during another dreary Knicks loss - their ninth in 10 games - began and ended with Carmelo Anthony.
The night after Anthony admitted that his left knee has bothered him since Oct. 30 - yet insisted it was nothing serious - he contributed 20 points and 4 rebounds Wednesday in a 115-99 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But the Knicks again defended listlessly, as Minnesota, which was missing three starters and an experienced backup center, ran the floor unchecked to break a five-game losing streak.
Guard Ricky Rubio (sprained left ankle), forward Thad Young (a death in his family) and centers Nikola Pekovic (sprained right wrist) and Ronnie Turiaf (sore right hip) sat out for Minnesota. Yet for the second consecutive night the Knicks (3-10) gave up more than 60 points in the first half. They trailed by 24 in the third quarter and by 20 entering the fourth quarter.
But there was no repeat of Tuesday night in Milwaukee, when the Knicks cut a 22-point deficit to 2 with 10 minutes left before losing, 117-113.
Failing to defend the veteran guard Kevin Martin early - he had 13 of his 37 points in the first quarter - forced the Knicks to again spend the night playing from behind. The second-year forward Shabazz Muhammad added 17 in his first N.B.A. start, highlighted by a second quarter alley-oop dunk in transition.
Anthony scored only 2 points in the second half after 18 in the first. With the game out of hand, he sat the entire fourth quarter. Before the game, Coach Derek Fisher said Anthony felt good enough to play.
'He hasn't expressed any major concerns,' Fisher said. 'I think he's a smart enough and veteran enough player that if he had some concern about where he is, he would come either to me or the training staff about trying to be smart.
'He hasn't done that as of yet,' Fisher said. 'I'm sure we'll keep an eye on it, but he's good to go for now.'
Amar'e Stoudemire had 19 points for the Knicks, who lost despite shooting 49.3 percent from the field. Minnesota shot 49.4 percent.
Fisher would not say if Jose Calderon (strained right calf) or Andrea Bargnani (strained left hamstring) would make their season debuts Saturday against Philadelphia at Madison Square Garden. 'I'll worry about who may or not play on Saturday after tonight,' Fisher said.
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