GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Knicks fans may have to wait until Sunday to see how Carmelo Anthony blends in with Linsanity.
Coach Mike D’Antoni said Anthony would “probably not” start tonight against the New Orleans Hornets at Madison Square Garden.
Anthony has been out with a groin injury since the first quarter of the team’s win over the Utah Jazz Feb. 6, a stretch that has coincided with the Knicks winning six of their seven straight games during Jeremy Lin’s ascendance to worldwide rock star.
Anthony could return Sunday against the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, which could be dicey considering the fans’ trepidation about how he might mess things up.
If the Knicks win tonight for eight in a row and then lose to Dallas in Anthony’s return, it will only amplify the criticism of him. Some have even suggested the Knicks trade Anthony, who did not shoot at the shootaround and was not available to the media.
“”He’ll coexist with Jeremy real well,” D’Antoni said Friday. “And whoever has the ball will be making plays and we’ll see how it goes. See what the balance is, whether we like it or don’t like it.
“There might be some adjustments on both parts but I don’t see it as a problem. I see it only as a good thing.”
Lin concurred, saying after Wednesday’s win over the Sacramento Kings that the team would be “more dangerous” once Anthony returns.
“We’re probably going to be playing on opposite sides so when I have myself on one side of the floor and him on the other, we can swing-swing and all of a sudden the defense is in rotation and we’re coming into pick-and-rolls,” Lin said.
“We should be more dangerous offensively.”
