Carmelo Anthony might be getting a head start on his holiday vacation. Melo could be ready to shut it down for the foreseeable future to recuperate from nagging injuries, which would leave his his New York Knick teammates to continue on with what has been another disappointing season without him. They host the full-strength Phoenix Suns at Madison Square Garden with the Suns looking to capitalize on the star’s absence.
Read on below for more on this exciting Saturday NBA matchup. And don’t forget, there’s a special NFL Saturday doubleheader featuring the Chargers vs. 49ers and Eagles vs. Redskins for a stacked Saturday of sports action.
The six-game slide is over for the Phoenix Suns, who finally recorded a much-needed win over the Charlotte Hornets, 111-106, on Wednesday.
[sc:NBA240banner ]Goran Dragic returned after two games out to lead the Suns with 20 points and eight assists. After a slow start to the season, Dragic has upped his game in December. He’s averaging close to 21 points per game and shooting a sizzling 55 percent from the field.
Sixth man Isaiah Thomas has also recovered from an ankle injury that kept him sidelined for eight games. Thomas has scored 20 points in back-to-back games and has gone 7 for 15 from beyond the arc.
With offensive weapons that also include Eric Bledsoe (17 points per game in December) and Gerald Green (14 PPG), the Suns haven’t had too many problems scoring with the ball. They’re in the top five in scoring with 104.6 points per game.
Their problem has been on the defensive end. The Suns are giving up 104 points per game on the season. But the possible absence of Carmelo Anthony should help them outgun the similarly defenseless Knicks, who have the fourth-worst Defensive Rating in the league.
So Carmelo Anthony is shutting it down for a while. The New York Knicks star sat out their 103-97 loss to the Chicago Bulls, following the advice by people in his inner circle telling him to rest up his bothersome knee.
It wasn’t as if the Knicks were doing terribly well with him on the court. The loss to the Bulls was their 13th in the last 14 games, although they’ve still gone 8-6 against the spread.
With Melo out of the lineup, his good friend Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Knicks with 23 points on 8 for 19 shooting, while Amare Stoudemire had 16 and six rebounds to continue a solid month. S.T.A.T. is averaging close to 15 points and seven rebounds in December.
But apart from those two, there’s not much consistent scoring to be found in their entire lineup. The Knicks – even with Melo in the lineup for almost the entire season – are fourth-bottom in the league with just 93.8 points per game.
Point guard Jose Calderon can provide decent offensive punch on a good night, but he is a huge liability on defense. He doesn’t figure to be a good matchup against a Suns team with not one, not two, but three excellent scoring point guards eager to attack him constantly.
Writer’s Prediction
The Suns pound the Knicks to win and cover at MSG.
