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Carmelo Anthony, who has been under heavy scrutiny since arriving in New York a season ago, appears to be regaining scoring touch as the No. 1 option in Mike Woodson's offense.
ATLANTA Whether Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire can successfully co-exist will remain an unanswered question for now. And it no longer matters whether Mike DAntonis offense is right for Anthony.
But change the head coach and remove the power forward from the lineup and there is no denying that Anthony seems comfortable and has been productive as the Knicks No. 1 scoring option in a more traditional offense.
The Knicks face the Hawks Friday night having won eight of nine games under Mike Woodson, including Wednesdays impressive 108-86 victory over the Orlando Magic. Anthony, despite playing with a strained right groin, scored 25 points in 26 minutes and spent the fourth quarter of the blowout win on the bench.
It was the Knicks second straight win without Stoudemire, who is sidelined with a bulging back disc, and Jeremy Lin, who is nursing a sore knee. With Stoudemire and Lin out of the lineup, Anthony is the focal point of the offense more than ever and he has responded accordingly.
He scored 28 points in Mondays win over Milwaukee, his highest scoring total since Jan. 20, and followed it up with 25 points in just three quarters against Orlando. It marked the sixth time in 51 games this season that Anthony scored 25 or more points in consecutive games. In his 27 regular-season games with the Knicks last year, Anthony scored 25 or more in consecutive games 12 times.
Baron Davis called Anthonys performance inspirational, considering that Anthony was clearly playing hurt. But thats what separates good players from great players. Kobe Bryant has been hurt on and off for the past two years and yet still plays at a high level.
Anthony has had, in order, a sprained ankle, sprained wrist and a strained groin. He hasnt always played well when hes been injured but its hard to imagine being much better than he was against the Magic.
I just want to take care of my business, take care of my body, he said. I know thats the most important thing. My teammates need me out there. If they see me in the training room early, being in the gym early, maybe they do feed off of that. So I just want to continue doing that and hopefully we continue playing the same ball that we've been playing.
During the Knicks six-game losing streak earlier this month that led to D'Antoni's resignation, Stoudemire hinted that some of his teammates werent properly preparing their minds and bodies for games. He didn't mention Anthony by name, but the message was clear.
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