Knicks at Nuggets
Carmelo Anthony and Arron Afflalo make the trip back to Denver when the New York Knicks visit the Nuggets on Tuesday. Anthony and Afflalo went to the playoffs together as teammates in Denver but are not having the same luck in New York as the Knicks sink toward the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
New York is kicking off a six-game road trip on Tuesday while trying to decide if going for the wins or developing the young players on the roster are more important at this point. “Is there going to be a point in the season where you just go 'we’re going to play the young guys'? I’m not there yet,” Knicks coach Kurt Rambis told reporters. “If management tells me at some point in time that we’re there and they want to make that change, then that’s something that I’ll defer to them.” Denver is in a similar predicament in the West, though it is showing some fight of late with wins in two of the last three games. The Nuggets bounced back from an overtime loss by earning an overtime win over Dallas on Sunday after a stunning comeback at the end of regulation.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, MSG (New York), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE KNICKS (26-38): New York picked up its fourth win in the last 20 games with a 102-89 home win over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday as Rambis leaned on the veterans. Anthony, Afflalo and center Robin Lopez combined for 65 points while rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis (leg) sat out and promising second-year guard Langston Galloway was limited to 14 minutes off the bench. Porzingis had X-rays come back negative and was diagnosed with a left leg contusion that will leave him day-to-day as the Knicks embark on the lengthy trip.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (25-38): Denver lost to the Brooklyn Nets on a last-second tip by Brook Lopez in overtime on Friday and was determined not to let it happen twice. The Nuggets overcame a four-point deficit in the final eight seconds of regulation before D.J. Augustin scored the final eight points of the extra period in a 116-114 triumph over the Mavericks. Augustin came over from the Oklahoma City Thunder at the trade deadline and has helped pick up some of the scoring the team lost when Danilo Gallinari, who was the main piece coming back to Denver in the trade that sent Anthony to New York five years ago, was lost for likely the rest of the season to an ankle injury.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Anthony is averaging 25 points in seven career games against his former team.
2. Nuggets F Kenneth Faried posted a double-double in five of the last six games, including 25 points and 20 rebounds on Sunday.
3. Denver picked up a 101-96 win in New York on Feb. 7.