CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Knicks got hit by a storm Saturday night — but this one wasn’t called Jonas. You may have heard of it: Linsanity.
An off-his-game Carmelo Anthony sat the fourth quarter with a sore left knee — or a sore ego — but way before that, Hornets guard Jeremy Lin continued to light up the Knicks. This time, Lin racked up 26 points, five assists, made all 10 of his free throws and was a game-high plus-23 as the Hornets rolled, 97-84, at Time Warner Cable Arena.
Anthony, who never jelled with Lin when they were teammates, sat out the fourth with a blue towel over his head after not showing much life on the second night of a back-to-back. Anthony, who had surgery on his left knee last February, said after Saturday’s loss it was just “general soreness” and not related to his torn patellar tendon.
“Nothing to be worried about. Not really too concerned about it,’’ said Anthony, whose milestone of passing Gary Payton for 30th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list went completely overshadowed by the defeat.
Knicks coach Derek Fisher seemed unalarmed and admitted he might have had Anthony sit anyway because his team trailed by 21 points after three quarters. Fisher was uncharacteristically direct after getting thumped for a second straight night, wondering if the Knicks have been reading too many press clippings.
“I don’t know if he would have come back in the game without the sore knee,’’ Fisher said. “We just weren’t playing with enough energy. We looked completely worn down and worn out. … I think we are feeling the impact of a little bit of success and how much more it requires to go beyond this next barrier, beyond a .500 team.’’
It was a long week for the Knicks: two overtime games and a back-to-back that included the club flying through Winter Storm Jonas after getting wiped out by 28 points by the Clippers on Friday. The Knicks didn’t get to their hotel until 3:15 a.m. Saturday. They looked uninspired and now they are stuck overnight in Charlotte because of the blizzard.
“We just weren’t there tonight,’’ Anthony said. “Similar game to what we had [Friday] night. This league is up and down. Right now we got to right this ship.’’
Anthony finished with nine points, taking just 11 shots, making four and playing passively. He was a minus-14 and it probably didn’t sit well watching Lin’s star rise.
“I was feeling it physically at shootaround Friday and felt it before the game — certain things I normally would be able to do, I wasn’t able to do,’’ Anthony said.
The loss to the depleted Hornets dropped the Knicks to 22-24 and showed how valuable Lance Thomas has become. Thomas has missed three straight games with a sprained left knee and the club’s spirit and energy has suffered in each one. Thomas has become a legitimate “3 and D’’ guy.
“He’s very important for our team,’’ said Kristaps Porzingis, who was relatively quiet with 13 points, four rebounds and three blocks. “Defensively, maybe that’s what we miss: the energy he brings every game. You see how important he is for us.’’
The Knicks were facing a battered Charlotte squad missing Al Jefferson, Cody Zeller, Nicolas Batum and Jeremy Lamb. Perhaps the Knicks went overboard in not letting Thomas play.
Thomas had a strenuous workout 90 minutes before tip-off, indicating he was ready. Fisher said before the game he thought it likely Thomas would play, but the medical staff nixed it.
“I went through a full workout before the game,’’ Thomas said. “I felt really good. I was real happy where I was at. It was just little tender. It’s always the training staff’s call. They’re the ones protecting us. The way I felt, I felt I would be able to play tonight but they wanted to give me as much rest as possible so I can play a full game [Tuesday] instead of playing limited minutes.’’
Anthony and Thomas should be ready by Tuesday to face the Thunder, but Fisher was very clipped when asked specifically why Thomas didn’t suit up.
After a slow start, New York product Kemba Walker lit up in the second half to score 26 points for the Hornets. Meanwhile, the Knicks had a no-show performance from Arron Afflalo, who scored 10 points, not hitting his first field goal until late in the third quarter.
“Maybe it’s more mentally than physically,’’ Porzingis said.