Carmelo Anthony recently missed a pair of games with an injury and the Knicks dropped two games to the Brooklyn Nets and Memphis Grizzlies. Melo returned to play for the Knicks on Martin Luther King Day and while Melo didn’t look like his old self, he still managed to show out for the New York faithful.
The Sixers have become one of the worst teams in the NBA to a team on the rise with some great assets and a new direction under Jerry Colangelo. They were fresh off a win against the Portland Trail Blazers at home and they traveled north to Manhattan to take on the Knicks and Melo during a matinee contest on MLK Day.
The game went into double overtime after Carmelo Anthony and Ish Smith exchanged big shots late in the game but the big news was that the Knicks lost Kristaps Porzingis for the latter part of the game due to a foot injury. It ended up not being that serious and Knicks coach Derek Fisher wanted to sit him to avoid further damage.
Melo dropped only 19 on the night on 7-28 shooting with seven rebounds and seven assists but Arron Afflalo led the Knicks with 25 points and seven rebounds. The Sixers were led by Jahlil Okafor who dropped 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds but Ish Smith came up huge late for the Sixers, scoring 16 points and handing out 16 assists.