Carmelo Anthony is a go for the Knicks when they host the Brooklyn Nets Wednesday night.
Anthony tweaked his ankle in the third quarter of the Knicks blowout win over the Lakers last Thursday night (he left the game, but the game was decided at that point). He missed one game but was testing the ankle on the court when he arrived at the arena on Wednesday night and tweets from Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press and multiple other reports says he is a go. That is not the official word from the team, but this is the Knicks so who knows if they will get around to that. As if it gives them some advantage because Avery Johnson never could have seen it coming.
Carmelo is having the best season of his career, averaging 27.9 points per game on 47.3 points per game, shooting 45.5 percent from three, with a PER of 26. But what is really separating Anthony this season is his hustle and focus on defense, his passing, his leadership. He has injected himself into the early season MVP conversation (it is way, way to early to have a real leader in that race, talk to me halfway through).
The Knicks are 18-6 and the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile the Nets are 2-7 in their last nine as they start to come undone with Deron Williams struggling and their defense never really wowing anyone for long stretches. But the two New York teams have split what feel like their weekly games now. This is the third game of the series, the rubber match.