Carmelo Anthony a game-time call
— -- The New York Knicks are hoping to get a present on Christmas morning when they assess Carmelo Anthony's ailing left ankle before facing the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Knicks star is a game-time decision for Wednesday after spraining his ankle in the Knicks' victory in Orlando on Monday.
"We got to weigh it out," head coach Mike Woodson said of whether to play Anthony at less than 100 percent on ESPN New York 98.7 FM. "He came in and got treatment, and he will get treatment probably in the evening and then tomorrow when he wakes up and comes in, we will have to assess it at that time."
The Knicks have already ruled out starting point guard Raymond Felton, who strained his right groin against Orlando. Woodson said Felton is day-to-day moving forward. The Knicks could have Kenyon Martin back after the power forward missed the past five games with a strained abdominal muscle.
"The bright side is I think Kenyon, if everything goes according to plan when he comes in tomorrow morning, he might be a guy that suits and plays a little bit," Woodson said. "So that is a plus. But at the end of the day, we still got to get Pablo [Prigioni] and Raymond back because they are such a big part of what we did last season."
If Anthony cannot play, the Knicks will face Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook without the reigning scoring champ, Felton and Prigioni. Metta World Peace (knee) is banged up and didn't play against Orlando. Martin's status is questionable as well.
"It has been tough in terms of trying to get chemistry with our ballclub, but I am not one to complain," Woodson said of the injuries. "We got to continue to fight and grind until we get a healthy deck again. When that is going to be, I don't know."
Woodson said he trusts whatever decision Anthony and the Knicks' medical staff make in terms of playing on Christmas.
"I trust Melo," Woodson said. "This is my third year with Carmelo, he is a tough competitor, a tough kid. I trust everything about him in terms of how he is thinking, and then the medical people will lead us in the right direction in terms of where he is. We will assess everything tomorrow morning, and then we will make a decision."
