The last time the Knicks hosted Boston, they suffered a 41-point blowout loss on Dec. 8. Facing the Celtics Tuesday in the Garden, they will be looking to get some payback for their worst loss of the season.
“That’s on the back of our minds. We understand the loss that we had against them last time, and we want to redeem ourselves,’’ Carmelo Anthony said of that 114-73 humiliation.
“All losses are the same, but that game left a bitter taste in my mouth and everybody’s mouth. It was unacceptable that game. We remember that. [Tuesday] we’re going to come out and build on this momentum but also keep that in the back of our minds that they came here on our homecourt and beat us the way they did.’’
They’ll be facing a Celtic team that has star point guard Rajon Rondo back in the lineup.
“He’s their quarterback. He runs their ballclub, he’s pretty damn good at it and we’re going to have to deal with that,’’ Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. “His speed in terms of getting the ball up the floor and getting it to where it’s got to go has caused problems for a lot of teams, so we just got to make sure that our transition defense is intact and everybody’s guarding a man.’’
It’s unclear if the Knicks will get any of their injured front-court players back Tuesday, or even by next weekend. Metta World Peace practiced “a little bit” Monday according to Woodson, but will have to be evaluated Tuesday morning.
Amar’e Stoudemire has a sprained left ankle and bone bruise, while Kenyon Martin has a sprained left ankle and tendinitis that was expected to sideline him for approximately two weeks when he was injured Jan. 17. Woodson had no further updates on the status of either big man.
“They’re still day-to-day, and they’re still doing the rehab,” he said. “So we’ll just see. Hopefully they’ll be back soon. We can use them.’’
Woodson did praise the play of young big men Cole Aldrich and Jeremy Tyler.
“I’m very pleased,’’ Woodson said. “I think Cole and Jeremy have come in and given us some positive minutes, because you just never know when guys don’t get an opportunity to play. Their time comes in practice. When you throw them in the game, you just hope like hell that they’re ready to play. Those two guys, they’ve given us some positive minutes the last two outings, which is kind of nice.’’
Despite scoring a Knick and Garden record 62 points last Friday, Anthony was snubbed for NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Atlanta’s Paul Millsap won the Eastern Conference award, Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant the West.
Anthony not only lost the award, but his trainer, Knick player development coach Idan Ravin — who is the personal trainer for Anthony and J.R. Smith, and had worked with Chris Paul in the past — left the team over philosophical differences with the coaching staff, according to ESPNNewYork.com.