Carmelo Anthony expressed his surprise as he received surprising reaction from the New York Knicks fans at their home stadium. Playing against Cleveland Cavaliers, the Knicks fans booed him.
The fans have grown impatients with the Knicks. Especially when the fans saw how the Knicks offense went bust and their defense had too many holes in the game against Cavaliers on Saturday. When the game entered second quarter and the Knicks trailed 64-43, the fans started booing Anthony as reported by New York Daily News.
Anthony was shocked by the fans reaction. It has never happened before the Knicks fans gave such negative reaction to their own players. Afterward, he tried to make sense of the situation and promised to improve his shooting.
“I got to get in the gym tomorrow and work on my shot,” Anthony said after the game. “They won’t boo me.”
However, he could not deliver his promise two days later against Los Angeles Lakers which currently has the third worst records in the NBA. The Knicks had a humiliating defeat 107-121 at Madison Square Garden on Monday, Feb.6. According to New York Times, prior to defeat the Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers has suffered 12 consecutive defeats in their road game before stomping Knicks at the Garden.
Anthony improved his shooting by making 10 of his 17 shots from the field posting 26 points, followed by Kristaps Porzingis with 16 points. However, Anthony’s reluctance to play defense has proven to be expensive, because the young Lakers was able to wreak a havoc on the Knicks defense. Meanwhile the rest of the Knicks team members were not able to get out of the slump.
With the two consecutive lost at home, the Knicks are now 22-31 and ranked 12th in the Eastern Conference. They are moving further away from playoffs zone while the rumors about Anthony’ departure to Cleveland are intensifying.
Watch the discussion in "Inside the NBA" on TNT regarding Anthony’s departure to Cleveland below:
