Deja vu for Melo's knee ahead of All-Star weekend

Carmelo Anthony's sore left knee kept him out of his third game in seven opportunities in Friday's New York Knicks' loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Yet with the All-Star Game around the corner, Anthony - voted in by fans for the seventh straight season - is fully expected to start for the Eastern Conference in Toronto next Sunday.

"We won't necessarily be able to keep him from playing if he wants to play (in the All-Star Game)," Knicks coach Derek Fisher said Friday, according to the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy.

If this sounds familiar, it's because last year, Anthony put off season-ending debridement surgery on the same knee until after participating in All-Star weekend in New York.

Nobody has suggested that Anthony's current injury is serious. An MRI Friday revealed no structural damage, and the Knicks have been only describing the problem as "soreness."

Yet the forward's affinity for All-Star weekend and its theatrics - while sacrificing games that matter - has rubbed some observers in Gotham the wrong way. Anthony's knee troubles have coincided with the Knicks' recent collapse: the team has lost 10 of its last 13 games, with their leading scorer sitting out five of those contests. They are 0-7 this season overall without him.

"If he physically shouldn't play, then that’s a decision he should make," Fisher said.

The losing skid has knocked the Knicks out of the top eight in the East, dampening early-season hopes of a playoff appearance. Anthony has played the role of facilitator more often this season, averaging a career-high 4.2 assists through 46 games.