The New York Knicks have not been off to the start that the team expected heading into the season and now Carmelo Anthony has come out to express his frustration after the loss to the Houston Rockets, as he felt the team was afforded many more calls from the referees and officials on Thursday night.
According to ESPN.com, Anthony said that he was frustrated after the game, as James Harden had 18 free throw attempts to Anthony's 11 and the Knicks were totally outdone in that regard by the Rockets, who had 44 to their 27. The Rockets ended up making 38 of those, while the Knicks had 22 of the 27 they took on Friday. The Knicks have been struggling on both sides of the court this season and now Anthony vented his frustrations.
"You look at that and you see the way that some guys get their calls; me, I got to get cut, you've got to see blood for me to get a call down there," Anthony said after the Knicks' loss. "That's where the frustration comes from."
James Harden had a very nice game with 36 points and 18 free throws and Anthony couldn't put the Knicks over the top despite 10 rebounds and 45 points, one of the best games for a Knick since Patrick Ewing. Harden was out for the last game against the Sixers and came back hard with 36 points and nine rebounds and now the Rockets will host the Denver Nuggets next after playing the Knicks and they have a tough schedule coming up as well, with games against the Dallas Mavericks as well as the Brooklyn Nets and before the San Antonio Spurs at the end of the month.
The Knicks now have lost another game at home and Linsanity returned in a bit quieter form, as Lin scored 21 points with five rebounds and three assists in the game and after last season when he averaged 13.4 points, 6.1 assists and 1.6 steals, Lin is scoring more and he has had a great week, putting up over 30 points in each of the previous two games and clearly playing with Dwight Howard has helped quite a bit. Lin is averaging nearly 30 points over the past three games and with Patrick Beverley in the backcourt as well, the Rockets may have one of the best combinations in the league.