The New York Knicks have been off to a tough start this season and now Carmelo Anthony is dealing with a back injury that could be a concern through the year and he is questionable for Friday's game against the OKC Thunder after missing the Dallas Mavericks matchup on Wednesday.

Anthony had to leave Monday's game against the Houston Rockets with back spasms and that caused him to miss the game against the Mavericks. The Knicks lost in overtime to Dallas and now they are 4-12 on the season after starting 3-13 last year. According to Pro Basketball Talk, the New York Post reports that Anthony's back issue could be something that sticks around for the rest of the season and could linger into back end of the schedule.

PBT writes that it's "unlikely" that Anthony will play against the Thunder in the next game for the Knicks and that means JR Smith and Iman Shumpert should play increased minutes. Anthony left the game against the Rockets with 1:45 left in the second quarter and it came after he landed "awkwardly" after taking a shot in the game. Amar'e Stoudemire has dealt with back spasm issues in the past and it ended up causing serious disk damage.

The Knicks are fourth in the Atlantic division this season and they have four wins over the first 16 games. Anthony is leading the team in scoring and the team is ranked 25th in the league in points per game.