No Carmelo Anthony. No Amar’e Stoudemire. No Tyson Chandler. No hope? It certainly looks that way as the New York Knicks have lost three in a row on a tough west coast road trip. They have been blown out in Denver and lost the lead in Portland. It just seems that the oldest team in the NBA is starting to play like it. Their next game is against the Los Angeles Clippers in Los Angeles and it looks like they will be without their three best players. If Chandler can’t play, expect the Clippers to be in lob city mode again.
Right now, the Knicks fully healthy would not win the Eastern Conference regardless. The Miami Heat are just playing at a level that no one can compete with them. However, if they stay in the third spot and are forced to play Boston, they might not make it out the first round. Hopefully by that time, they will get back Chandler and Anthony.
I would say that its not time to panic because they are not going to be playing these Western Conference teams and most likely will not be stuck with this roster for the rest of the year. Anthony finally got his knee drained and plans to meet his team in Los Angeles. If they can get Carmelo back then they should be fine. I would not panic quite yet if I am a Knicks fan, but if Chandler cannot come back for the postseason and Chris Copeland and Kurt Thomas have to start, then I would be very, very worried.
