SALON

Thursday, Jan 10, 2013 7:30 PM UTC

Knicks ready to face Pacers without Anthony

By

Topics: From the Wires,

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Carmelo Anthony had an excuse for not being at the New York Knicks’ shootaround Thursday morning. His coach told him to stay at the hotel and take it easy.

The Knicks star forward will get even more rest Thursday night, thanks to the NBA.

Less than 24 hours after Anthony was given a one-game suspension for Monday’s confrontation with Kevin Garnett, the Knicks were preparing to face Indiana without their leading scorer. Amare Stoudemire is expected to play only about 20 minutes as he continues to work his way back from knee surgery.

No, this is not how New York wanted to go into a nationally-televised game against the Central Division leaders. But Anthony’s suspension left them no choice.

“I’m sure he’s disappointed, but again it happened and we can’t go back,” Woodson told reporters. “He’s got to live with it, and he’ll rebound from it. Carmelo is a true pro and he’ll deal with it.”

Anthony contended he went toward the Celtics’ locker room after losing to Boston and later waited for Garnett outside Boston’s team bus because he wanted to discuss Garnett’s choice of words during a fourth-quarter altercation. Anthony had said he didn’t believe he would be suspended because he said he was just looking to talk to Garnett.

NBA executive vice president of operations Stu Jackson ruled otherwise.

Woodson learned of the decision Wednesday night, after the team arrived in Indy to face one of the league’s hottest teams. Indiana is 11-3 in its last 14 games and beat defending champion Miami 77-67 on Tuesday.

“We’ve got to move on and live for the next day,” Woodson said. “There’s not a whole lot we can do as an organization.”

The options are complicated by Stoudemire’s situation.

After playing a season-high 28 minutes in Monday’s loss to Boston, Stoudemire reportedly experienced soreness in his surgically-repaired left knee. Woodson acknowledged Thursday that he would closely monitor Stoudemire’s minutes against the Pacers — even though Stoudemire seemed undeterred by that notion. He’s expected to play about 20 minutes.

“I think it was more having three games in four nights. I just don’t want to overdo anything,” Stoudemire said. “We’ll see how it is tonight. Carmelo’s out, so I might get more minutes.”

The Pacers expect to see the Knicks make some adjustments. For instance, swingman Paul George said he believes New York will go to guys like J.R. Smith and Jason Kidd more often and will take more than 3-point shots than usual.

But even without Anthony, the Pacers believe this game will be every bit as tough as they thought it would with Anthony.

“They’re different but every bit as lethal,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “They being first in the East is as much about Tyson Chandler and Jason Kidd and the experience they have as it is about Carmelo Anthony.”

More By Michael Marot.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations