Carmelo Anthony has gone from Mr. April to Mr. Ailing.
Anthony was held out of the contact portion of practice Wednesday to rest his strained/bruised right shoulder, but he got up shots during the conditioning portion. The Knicks are hoping the four days off for Anthony will allow his shoulder to heal enough to where he can be more effective Friday in Toronto.
Anthony said his back-to-back poor outings against Washington and Miami were because of the “uncomfortable’’ feeling in his right shoulder.
Anthony, who has won the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Month the last two Aprils, is losing some of his April mojo.
He committed nine turnovers and scored a season-low 10 points in Friday’s loss against the Wizards. He scored 13 points and declined to take a shot in the fourth quarter in Sunday’s defeat in Miami because he said he felt his arm go “dead.” He’s shot 9-of-31 in the two games, though a handful of his shots were inside the cylinder before rimming out.
Coach Mike Woodson said Anthony has not had an MRI exam.
“If you ever been a shooter, if it’s tough to raise you r shooting arm, it’s tough,’’ Woodson said. “Only Melo knows the severity of his pain. All I can do is put him in the best position possible. If he tells me he’s hurt and can’t play, it’s my job to sit him. I don’t know if he’ll ever tell me that.’’
The season-long grind has had an effect on Anthony, who is averaging 38.9 minutes per game. Anthony hurt his shoulder against the Nets last week, though he didn’t say a word about it until after his Washington debacle.
Last season, Anthony broke down in the playoffs when he played through a torn left shoulder against the Pacers. His fourth-quarter duds in the three games in Indianapolis helped contribute to the Knicks loss in the series.
“He’s carried a big load,’’ Woodson said.
Anthony, the team leader, hasn’t spoken to reporters since Sunday. He was not made available after Wednesday’s practice and was back in the locker room for treatment.
Woodson said Anthony has been “rehabbing, icing” and receiving electronic stimulation on his shoulder.
Amar’e Stoudemire, who complained after the Miami loss the Knicks didn’t get the ball inside to him in the fourth quarter when J.R. Smith heaved 10 3-pointers, said Woodson didn’t bring it up with the team.
“We didn’t talk about it at all,’’ Stoudemire said.
Woodson said he wasn’t upset Smith launched 22 3-pointers against the Heat because he made 10 and got the club within six points. But he reminded Smith he didn’t get to the free-throw line in 42 minutes.
Though the Knicks have four days following their game in Miami, they will have practiced just once in that span, after cancelling Thursday’s session.
The club stayed overnight in South Beach after the game, so there was no practice Monday and Tuesday’s was also nixed because Woodson believes there are not enough healthy players.