New York Knicks star forward Carmelo Anthony has struggled play through lingering the issues and hinted that he he may never be 100 percent again, but after another sub-par performance has decided to fly back to New York to have his knee drained.
Melo has been consulting with his doctors and even called a knee-draining procedure "the last option" on Wednesday, but it didn't take long to sway him (via ESPN):
"I'm going to go get it drained, get the fluid out. Get to the bottom of it quick, so I can get back on the court," Anthony said.
"I was always concerned. I was being naive to myself, saying OK. Trying to psyche myself out, 'I can do it. I can do it.' But there comes a point where you've got to figure it out and get to the bottom of it and move on."
The Knicks dropped one game behind the Indiana Pacers for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoff brakcet after their loss to the Nuggets. New York will need its star to be close to full strength if the team hopes to make any noise in the post-season.
Anthony has missed three of the team's last five games, and in his previous 10 contests he has scored 22.1 points per game on 36.1 percent shooting to go with just 4.6 rebounds -- all down from his season averages of 27.5 points on 43.6 percent shooting and 6.2 rebounds per contest.
There is no official timetable for Melo's return, but he will not play against the Trail Blazers on Thursday night.
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