Tyson Chandler Inching Close To Return, Carmelo Anthony Thinks NY Knicks Are 'Playing To Lose'
The New York Knicks are having a disappointing start to the 2013-14 NBA season, but they could get a boost soon with the possible return of starting center Tyson Chandler in two weeks.
Chandler, who is recovering from a non-displaced fracture of his right fibula, declined to give a timetable on his return, but coach Mike Woodson said that the defensive-minded center could return by mid-December.
Chandler clarified that everything in his rehabilitation is going fine, saying that the team is just being cautious on his ailing back. He also admitted that watching the Knicks drop consecutive games is tough, but he insisted that it is too early in the season to push the panic button.
"It is still the beginning of the season," Chandler said in an ESPN New York interview. "I'm just trying to get back so I can help my team. I really feel that we can easily put together a nice winning streak, a big-time winning streak where you win eight out of 10 games or so and we'll be in first place in our division. I think it's definitely possible."
But while Chandler sounded optimistic about their chances this season, superstar Carmelo Anthony is slowly losing his patience after the Knicks absorbed their ninth straight defeat on Sunday against a New Orleans Pelicans team that played without star forward Anthony Davis for the majority of the game.
"I think we're playing to lose rather than playing to win right now," Anthony said in a statement as reported by ESPN. "When you lose games the way we've been losing them at home, on the road, you start thinking a lot. You start playing a little tense. You start playing on your heels."
The Knicks, who are currently tied with the Milwaukee Bucks at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with their 3-13 record, have dropped nine consecutive games for the first time since 2006. Their seven-game losing streak at Madison Square Garden is their longest home losing streak in franchise history.