NEW YORK—Carmelo Anthony returned to the Denver Nuggets’ lineup on Sunday against the New York Knicks after missing three games with a bruised right elbow.
The Nuggets decided to give their leading scorer a break after he averaged just 11.5 points on 8-of-27 shooting in losses to Cleveland and Phoenix on consecutive nights.
Anthony was originally hurt on Nov. 30, when he was forced to leave a victory over Houston after 14 minutes with just two points, ending his streak of 222 straight games in double figures.
Anthony is averaging 20.5 points, lowest of his career.
“Pain’s a hard thing to figure out for a player and he’s got tremendous responsibility with a piece of his body that is the key to him scoring points,” Denver coach George Karl said.
