ORLANDO, Fla. — New York forward Carmelo Anthony will be evaluated Tuesday after he left the Knicks’ 103-98 win over the Orlando Magic with a sprained left ankle.
Anthony led the Knicks with 19 points before leaving the game Monday night with 7:26 left in the third quarter.
Without him, the Magic rallied to cut what had been a 25-point deficit to just a point. But the Knicks were able to hang on down the stretch to preserve the victory.
Anthony said in the locker room afterward that he is remaining optimistic about the severity of the sprain.
“I am walking,” Anthony said. “I think I caught it before it rolled all the way but it rolled pretty bad. So we will evaluate everything [Tuesday]. The good thing is I am able to walk with a little bit of pain. We will figure it out tomorrow. The pain was just too much. I was actually trying to walk it off to see if I could come back into the game.
“There wasn’t any reason for me to go out there and risk it anymore.”
Head coach Mike Woodson also was trying to remain positive for the latest in what has been a string of injuries to his players this season.
The Knicks next play Oklahoma City on Christmas Day.
“Melo’s a tough kid,” Woodson said. “He doesn’t sit out very often and we just have to wait and see how he feels [Tuesday], see how he is an we’ll go from there.”
The Knicks also lost point guard Raymond Felton late in the fourth quarter to what Woodson said was as a tweaked groin. Felton was just making his return to action after a six-game absence because of strained left hamstring.
He also will be evaluated Tuesday. The Knicks had been struggling to find an offensive flow in the half court and that returned against the Magic early.
“I’m concerned [about Anthony], but I’m not as worried about him as I’m worried about Ray, the way he came back and then to go down again. It’s tough,” Knicks forward J.R. Smith said. “He’s our point guard, for sure.”
