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Knicks begin home-and-home with Charlotte

Nov 5, 2013 - 3:33 PM (Sports Network) - The New York Knicks have a good shot at getting back in the win column when they open a home-and-home set with the Charlotte Bobcats Tuesday at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks will head to Charlotte Friday night, while the Bobcats have a game with Toronto in between matchups with New York.

New York has lost two in a row to Chicago and Minnesota following a season- opening win versus Milwaukee, and dropped a 109-100 decision to the undefeated Timberwolves Sunday at MSG. Carmelo Anthony, last season's scoring leader with 28.7 ppg, had 22 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks, who were down 40-19 after 12 minutes and saw Kevin Love and Kevin Martin combine for 64 points.

"That was the difference in the game," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "You just can't come out on your home court and dig a hole."

Metta World Peace and Andrea Bargnani netted 17 and 14 points, respectively, in defeat. Raymond Felton handed out 12 assists to go with his eight points.

The Knicks haven't lost three in a row since a four-game slide from March 11-17 last season.

Charlotte is 1-2 on the season and will be without newcomer and big man Al Jefferson Tuesday night because of a sprained right ankle. Jefferson has played in just one game this season, a 96-83 loss at Houston on Oct. 30.

Bismack Biyombo has been starting at center and tallied six rebounds and one block in Saturday's 105-84 loss at New Orleans. Ramon Sessions scored 22 points off the bench and Kemba Walker added 14 in the loss.

"We didn't come out with the focus we needed," Bobcats guard Gerald Henderson, who had seven points, said afterward. "We made a lot of mistakes, especially at the start of the game."

Henderson had scored in double figures in a career-high 26 games in a row dating back to last season. Walker has scored 10 or more points in 26 of his previous 27 games, averaging 18.1 ppg in that span.

The Bobcats were down 33-15 after the first 12 minutes, but managed to get back into it by halftime. The Pelicans, though, were too much and second-year center Anthony Davis was too much, finishing with 25 points and eight boards.

"I'm just trying to hustle and everything I need to do to help my team win," Davis said.

Bobcats rookie Cody Zeller, the fourth overall pick in the 2013 draft, had four points in less than 10 minutes (9:34) against the Pelicans.

Charlotte will begin a three-game homestand Wednesday versus Toronto, New York and Atlanta, and lost two of three meetings with the Knicks last season. The Knicks are 9-3 in the past 12 contests in this series, while Anthony averaged 27.5 ppg in two games against the Bobcats last season.

The Bobcats have lost 11 of their 15 games played at the Garden, where Charlotte associate head coach Patrick Ewing's No. 33 hangs in the rafters. Ewing is the Knicks' franchise leader in points (23,665), games played (1,039), rebounds (10,759), blocks (2,758), steals (1,061) and minutes (37,586).