In a 120–114 win over the Boston Celtics Tuesday, the New York Knicks had a scare as star forward Carmelo Anthony went down in the second quarter because of a right ankle sprain.
Anthony was trying to get down on defense with less than two minutes left in the second quarter when he stepped on the foot of referee Steve Anderson.
It took a few seconds before Anthony, who was quickly attended to by the Knicks staff and surrounded by his teammates, stood up and headed to the bench.
Following the intermission, Anthony tried to play through the injury in the third quarter but could not just overcome the pain. He then left the game and never returned.
"I didn't have no strength in it to try to push off and get out there and play," Anthony said, according to ESPN.
There was no worry since the X-ray results on Anthony's right ankle came back negative, ESPN added.
Before leaving the game, the 31-year-old forward tallied 17 points, four rebounds, and three assists in 18 minutes of action.
Unfortunately for the Knicks, Anthony rested Wednesday because of the injury and they lost to the Brooklyn Nets, 110–104.
It was a tough defeat for the Knicks since it dropped them from .500 and are now 20–21, 10th in the Eastern Conference standings.
New York missed Anthony's 21.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game in the loss to the Nets.
Stepping up in Anthony's absence for the Knicks was forward Derrick Williams who exploded for 31 points coming off the bench, also having seven rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes played.
It is still uncertain how long Anthony needs to rest the injury or how many games he is set to miss.
But the Knicks need him soon to have better chances of improving their record, especially with teams in the East having a tight race.
Next for the Knicks is a road trip heading to the FedExForum on Saturday to take on the Memphis Grizzlies.
