After reeling off seven straight victories, the Knicks look to avoid a losing streak as they take on the Mavericks in a nationally-televised game on Sunday. With Carmelo Anthony still unlikely to play due to a lingering groin injury, the Knicks will have to rely on getting quality minutes from Steve Novak, who has exceeded any expectations with four double-digit performances in Anthony's absence. Let's see what else is happening with the Knicks as their schedule gets set to become a bit more difficult in the coming week:
- Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com begs you to forget Linsanity for a moment and focus on center Tyson Chandler, the true leader in the Knicks' locker room and one of the major reasons for the team's recent success. After winning a championship last season in Dallas, Chandler is now taking players like Lin under his wing to provide tutelage and build camaraderie amongst his teammates.
- Jeremy Lin's path to Madison Square Garden stardom took an interesting path, writes Newsday's Ian Iannazzone in his latest Knicks insider column. From draft day decisions to Lin's choice of wanting to live closer to home when offered a contract by the Mavericks, there are countless scenarios that could have precluded Lin from donning the Knicks' orange and blue.
- Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press says that while Lin has done a great job handling the fame-side of Linsanity, he needs to do a better job keeping control of the basketball. The Knicks streak of seven consecutive victories came to a halt when Lin turned the ball over a career-high nine times on Friday against an underwhelming Hornets squad.
- Anthony finally has the pieces in place to make a wholehearted run at the NBA title this spring, says ESPNNewYork.com's Ian O'Connor. O'Connor points to a suddenly loaded Knicks backcourt along with what was already a top-flight frontcourt as reasons why Anthony could secure his legacy with a ring come June.