Injury ridden New York Knicks await Orlando Magic at the Madison Square Garden - NBA Preview
New York Knicks coach Mike Woodson will be put to an ultimate test on Wednesday night, as Madison Square Garden hosts Dwight Howard and his Orlando Magic.
Under ordinary circumstances, the Knicks might not have sweated at the prospect, but as things stand now, they will surely be entering the game with Amare Stoudemire and Jared Jeffries, while Jeremy Lin and Carmelo Anthony’s participation
is also in doubt.
Stoudemire is out indefinitely due to a back injury and Jeffries has been ruled out for at least two weeks after facing issues with his surgically repaired knee. Lin, the point guard who carried the Knicks when the chips were down
last time, is also struggling with knee soreness and his status is day-to-day.
As for Carmelo, he injured his groin once again on Monday night after delivering a game winning performance against Milwaukee Bucks - tallying 28 points in a crucial 89-80 win over Bucks. He inflicted the injury in the 3rd
quarter but kept on playing in the face of to lead the Knicks in what could be the defining game for the conquest of grabbing the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. Carmelo assumed the offensive role in absence of Lin and Stoudemire and helped
Knicks to gain 2 ½-game lead over Milwaukee.
However, if Anthony fails to make it on Wednesday, the Knicks could be in for some pounding. Knicks are 7-1 in Woodson’s tenure, but with Howard and Orlando’s arsenal of sharp shooter coming to town, he will need a reliable offensive
output. The role at the moment can only be fulfilled by Anthony. However, on the other side of the spectrum, hurrying Carmelo back might hurt the Knicks in the longer run.
Thus, on Wednesday night, the Magic will be stepping inside the arena with an upper hand. They gunned down the Knicks, 102-93, last time the teams met on January 16th. Ryan Anderson netted 30 and J.J. Redick poured in
21 for Orlando but Dwight Howard could only score 8 points and had 10 boards. Carmelo tallied a game high 33 for Knicks and Iman Shumpert along with Toney Douglas chipped in with 12 apiece. This time around the Superman will be looking to do some making up.
Orlando are sitting pretty on the 3rd position in the Eastern Conference with 32 wins and 18 loses and are a strong contenders for the title this season. New York on the other hand, don’t have the liberty of losing anymore
games as they are having a neck to neck competition with Bucks for the 8th playoff spot.
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