MILWAUKEE -- Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony is playing with a sore left knee, and he aggravated the injury during New York's 117-113 loss Tuesday night to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Anthony returned to the locker room for a couple of minutes in the second quarter to get his left knee retaped. Anthony said he aggravated the knee issue after hitting the floor while scrambling for a loose ball.

Anthony said his knee has been sore since New York's 95-90 win Oct. 30 at Cleveland. He said after Tuesday's game that he has had tests and that he knew "what's going on with it."

Anthony scored 26 points against the Bucks. Coach Derek Fisher said he didn't know whether it was "anything major" and that he thought Anthony would be OK.

"We played a lot of games in a short time, and you know Melo's obviously carrying a big load," Fisher said. "I'm sure he'll be OK. We'll keep an eye on him and make sure he's good, though."

Anthony played 37 minutes Tuesday night, shooting 10-of-17 from the field.

"The tape job that I had kind of got wet a little bit. I started feeling it a little bit after that. We cut the tape off on the bench, and I just started feeling a little bit more pain," Anthony said. "It felt better once I got it retaped."

The Knicks gave Anthony a five-year, $124 million contract in the offseason to stay in New York.

"It's been sore since maybe the Cleveland game," Anthony said. "I've had some tests. I really don't know exactly what's going on with it -- I mean, I know what's going on with it. But like I said, for me it's just a matter of just not kind of thinking about and playing through it."

The Knicks got starting guard Iman Shumpert back Tuesday after he missed a game with a right hip contusion. Shumpert finished with 21 points in 36 minutes.