Carmelo Anthony, after wrenching his wrist then inverting his ankle on Thursday against the Grizzlies, looked ready for a little time off. Recall that he was already playing through a sore back/hip/buttock/stinger sustained last week against the Wizards. The man's broken down and, indeed, will probably miss a game or more. From Marc Berman:

Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony is expected to miss Saturday's game against the Thunder here due to a sprained wrist and sprained ankle, saying he'll need "a miracle'' to suit up. Mike D'Antoni said Bill Walker will start in Anthony's place at small forward when the Knicks likely will have their hands full with the well-rested 10-2 Thunder.

So, that answers one question. It was pretty much down to Bill Walker, Renaldo Balkman, or a rehabilitated Jared Jeffries as the starter in Melo's stead, and Walker seems the most obvious choice, particularly coming off a decent outing in Memphis. Walker will presumably be tasked with guarding Kevin Durant and staying out of foul trouble in the process, which promises to be plenty hilarious. Hopefully, Melo can return by Monday afternoon's game against the Magic.

Meanwhile, this can't be left unmentioned:

"They wanted me in crutches but it was messing my swag up,’’ Anthony said.

Indeed, a sprained ankle needn't beget a sprained swag. Totally understandable. Still, it's probably best not to put weight on the sore limb. Might I suggest an alternative?