The New York Knicks may have to play without power forward Amare Stoudemire on Saturday night (Dec. 31). Stoudemire suffered a sprained ankle in the Thursday (Dec. 29) game against the Los Angeles Lakers and is officially listed as day-to-day. It means he could still play on Saturday, but that he would have limited mobility in his left ankle.

This injury has good and bad sides for the Knicks, especially as the team tries to find an identity in the early part of the season. The bad part is that Stoudemire is one of the two main offensive weapons that the Knicks have and it is hard to find offense when he or Carmelo Anthony is on the bench. The good part is actually the same situation, because it would force the lineup to figure things out with Stoudemire on the bench. Then, when he returns from the injury, the team will know what to do when he is taking a breather during games. Someone else has to step up to take pressure off of Stoudemire and Anthony, and this is the perfect opportunity to figure out who can do it.

In the first three games of the season, Stoudemire is averaging 17.3 points and 6 rebounds per game, but he has struggled to find his shooting stroke against the last two games. Against the Golden State Warriors he had just 16 points and against the Lakers he went just 4-for-17 from the field. Now the Knicks have to go up against the fast-paced Sacramento Kings next, a team that really likes to get out and run. That would certainly test Stoudemire’s ankle and it seems like the ideal week to simply rest him on the bench.

This game against the Kings is the last one on the West Coast road trip before the Knicks head back to Madison Square Garden for a Jan. 2 battle against the Toronto Raptors. If Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni plays it smart (like he should) and just gives Stoudemire some time off, his ankle should get a lot better by next Monday. Three games into the season, it just seems like too much of a risk to put him back on the court and risk the injury getting worse. It’s not like there is a break in the schedule, so getting him healthy for the Eastern Conference games has to become a priority.

The Knicks play the Sacramento Kings at Power Balance Pavilion on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. ET.

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*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a fan of the New York Knicks that has followed the team since the days John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason instilled their defensive will on the rest of the league.

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Kobe Bryant‘s injured wrist did not prevent the All Star guard from lifting the LA Lakers to a 99-82 win over the visiting New York Knicks on Thursday.

Skipping, spinning and grinning, Bryant unleashed his full arsenal of moves while scoring 13 of his 28 points in the third quarter despite playing through a right wrist injury.

Bryant also dished out a pair of game-clinching assists in the final quarter to give the Lakers their second win in a row following an 0-2 start to the season.

Los Angeles also looked more comfortable with first-year coach Mike Brown’s game plan as they took control in the first quarter and never let go.

“Obviously, Kobe is Kobe,” Brown told reporters. “You can’t downplay what he does because he did everything for us.”

The Lakers held the Knicks to just 31 percent shooting and never allowed the visitors to settle. Los Angeles, with Pau Gasol scoring 16 and grabbing 10 rebounds, took a 63-51 halftime lead and New York got no closer than eight in the second half.

“We’re growing as a team,” Lakers guard Steve Blake told reporters after finishing with 11 points. “Every day in practice, every game we grow more comfortable.”

New York’s Carmelo Anthony scored a team-high 27 and Amar’e Stoudemire had 15 but made just 4 of 17 shots as the Knicks fell to 1-2.

“You have to be able to score,” said New York coach Mike D’Antoni. “We just weren’t able to make shots. We’re not moving the ball and not playing real well as a team right now.”

The Knicks did not defend particularly well either, allowing the Lakers to shoot 52 percent.

Tyson Chandler, signed in the off-season to bolster the Knicks’ defense, finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds but his presence inside did not deter the Lakers.

Bryant showed signs of discomfort in his wrist at times as he flexed his hand during free throws and breaks in the action.

However, he was at his most entertaining in the third quarter where he recorded 13 points, including a 32-foot three-pointer that drew a foul and ended up a four-point play.

In the final few minutes of the game Bryant found Blake and Matt Barnes for consecutive three-pointers to put the game away.

The Lakers are expected to welcome back center Andrew Bynum on Saturday against Denver after serving a suspension for a flagrant foul during last season’s playoffs.

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

The New York Knicks turned in a really ugly performance against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night (Dec. 29). The Knicks would trail early and never get the offense going, finishing with just 10 points in the fourth quarter during a 99-82 loss. It was ugly on all aspects, but especially in how badly the team shot from the field.

The Knicks went just 21-for-67 (31 percent) against the Lakers, but made it even worse by giving up 52 percent on the defensive end (38-for-73). The Lakers also went 9-for-16 from three-point range, hitting pretty much from any place on the floor they wanted to. Kobe Bryant would finish with 28 points, Pau Gasol had 16 and Josh McRoberts had 10. The leading scorer for New York was Carmelo Anthony, who was 8-for-14 and finished with 27 points. The rest of the team went just 13-for-53 from the field, making less than 25 percent during the game.

This turned into the second straight loss for the Knicks after the team lost to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night (Dec. 28). It’s not how the team wanted to play after beating up on the Boston Celtics in the season opener, but luckily every other team in the Atlantic division is also losing games. After three games the Celtics sport a 0-3 record, so in comparison, the 1-2 record for the Knicks isn’t that bad. It’s not a good way to open the season though, even with the excuse that it is because they have to play on the West Coast right out of the gate.

It’s starting to look like the Knicks need big nights from Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and at least one other player every game to post a win. When one of the big two guys is off, the team can’t seem to find a way to recover. This is where role players have to step up and someone like Landry Fields, Bill Walker or Toney Douglas has got to put points up on the board. Without a third or even fourth significant contributor, the Knicks might have trouble stringing wins together.

The next chance for a Knicks win comes on Saturday, Dec. 31 when the team travels to play the Sacramento Kings in the last game of the road trip. Hopefully coach Mike D’Antoni can have a good practice on Friday (Dec. 30) to figure out just how this group of players can start getting more consistent on the court. That consistency will lead to a fluid approach to the game and, of course, more wins. If he can’t find it, this could become another long season with a lot of hopes going unfulfilled.

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Sources:

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*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a fan of the New York Knicks that has followed the team since the days John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason instilled their defensive will on the rest of the league.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Kobe Bryant scored 28 points in yet another dynamic performance
against the Knicks, and the Los Angeles Lakers pulled away in the
fourth quarter for their ninth straight victory over New York,
99-82 Thursday night.

Pau Gasol had 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the
Lakers, who have won two straight after a 0-2 start to the
compressed season.

Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points in his first showdown with
Bryant since joining the Knicks, and Amare Stoudemire had 15 points
on 4-for-17 shooting as New York again struggled down the stretch
in the middle stop of a three-game West Coast road trip.

Steve Blake scored 11 points and hit two big 3-pointers while
the Lakers opened the fourth quarter with a 17-3 run, taking a
22-point lead and forcing the Knicks to miss nine of their first 10
shots while committing seven turnovers. Bryant didn’t even need to
score in the fourth quarter, contributing three assists as Los
Angeles roared away.

The Lakers have dominated this rivalry between the signature
teams from the nation’s two largest cities in recent years, winning
every meeting since February 2007 with Bryant averaging more than
34 points per game.

Tyson Chandler had 13 points and 11 rebounds in his hometown for
the Knicks, whose nine-game skid against the Lakers is their
longest current stretch against any opponent.

New York opened the season with a gritty win over Boston on
Christmas Day, but lost to Golden State on Wednesday. The Knicks’
frustration showed in technical fouls for each of their Big Three,
who incessantly argued calls despite New York’s 41-22 free throw
advantage.

Josh McRoberts scored 10 points for the Lakers, who made 23 of
their 32 shots before halftime for their highest shooting
percentage in one half in nearly 13 years. New York pulled within
eight points heading into the fourth quarter, but then committed
five turnovers in the next 2 1/2 minutes as reserves Blake and Matt
Barnes led the Lakers’ runaway.

Although Bryant is playing with a torn ligament in his right
wrist that requires a brace whenever he isn’t playing, the 13-time
All-Star’s latest injury is doing little to slow him. He has scored
at least 25 points in each of the Lakers’ games so far, and he
shredded the Knicks’ spotty defense.

The Lakers were the only team to begin the season with three
games in three nights, losing the first two before routing Utah on
Tuesday for new coach Mike Brown’s first victory. Although the
Lakers struggled early, they’ve been downright dominant on defense
in the past three games at home, showing they’re already picking up
the finer points of Brown’s defense-based system.

The Lakers, who held the Knicks to 31.3 percent shooting, will
get even better on defense with center Andrew Bynum wrapping up his
season-opening four-game suspension for his misbehavior in last
spring’s playoff finale. He’ll be in the lineup for the Denver
Nuggets’ visit to Staples Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Lakers returned from their first day off with a sharp first
half, taking a 16-point lead in the second quarter with crisp
offensive execution that frequently left behind the Knicks. Anthony
scored 18 points in the half with six field goals _ the same number
managed by all of his teammates combined.

Los Angeles’ bench missed just one shot in the first half, and
nobody in a gold uniform missed more than two.

Bryant scored 13 points in the third quarter, even banking in a
long 3-pointer while getting fouled on a four-point play late in
the period, but the Knicks trimmed Los Angeles’ lead to 80-72
heading into the fourth.

NOTES: The Lakers made 77.1 percent of their shots in the second
half against Orlando on March 21, 1999. … Baron Davis is
traveling on the West Coast with the Knicks, but not playing while
resting a herniated disc in his back. The veteran guard grew up in
Los Angeles. … Former Lakers broadcaster Spero Dedes returned to
Staples Center for the first time since abruptly leaving Los
Angeles during the summer to work for the Knicks. … Fans near
courtside included USC QB Matt Barkley, Angels ace Jered Weaver,
Willie McGinest, actress Kaley Cuoco and Richard Lewis, who sat in
with the Lakers’ radio broadcast team.

The New York Knicks stopped by the Staples Center to take on the Los Angeles Lakers December 29 and the Lakers were not hospitable to the their East Coast visitors, beating them, 99-82. The Lakers smothered the Knicks and showed that their new coach, Mike Brown, is not about “Showtime” but he leans towards a different method of winning.

The New York Knicks Amar’e Stoudemire pumped up the fans before the 2010 season.
Photo by: Chamber of Fear WIkimedia Commons

The final score was not indicative of the pace of the game. Despite the Lakers falling just short of breaking through the century mark, defense was the key to the Lakers beating the Knicks. The Lakers pounded the Knicks into submission and sent them on their way to Sacramento with their tail between their legs.

This was the second game of a three-game West Coast swing for the Knicks, who lost to the Golden State Warriors, 92-78, in Oakland December 28. Now after going down in defeat to the Lakers, the Knicks will now travel back to Sacramento to take on the Sacramento Kings on New Year’s Eve. The NBA scheduler must have it in for the Knicks with those travel arrangements.

The Knicks, playing their third game of the season with the Lakers and their first back-to back of the season, looked slow and frustrated most of the game. There were several dumb fouls on the Knicks side, including an ill-advised foul on Kobe Bryant as he threw up and hit a three-point bomb from long-range.

The Lakers are not lighting up the scoreboard as they have in year’s past. This Lakers team is going to play grind-it-out basketball every game. The days of 120 point Lakers games is over and the Mike Brown era has begun.

The Knicks have added depth in the last few days with their pick up of Jeremy Lin and through the off season with the key additions of Tyson Chandler and Baron Davis. Davis has not played due to a back injury but Chandler is in the news for his comments about Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks

Chandler has been in the news since he made it clear the Mavericks are positioning themselves for the 2012-2013 season. Chandler spoke before the Knicks embarked on their three-game trip and said the Mavericks roster strategy was a major reason for him signing with the Knicks this off season.

The win over the Knicks was a huge boost to the Lakers because they did not have Andrew Bynum under the basket for this game. The Lakers are a much better team when a healthy Bynum is wreaking havoc under and above the rim. Get ready for a patented Los Angeles Lakers hot streak early in the season.

*Todd Jacobs is a native Southern Californian and longtime Los Angeles Lakers fan since the early ’70s.

Sources:

ESPN Clubhouse: Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks stats and news.

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