Charlotte Bobcats vs New York Knicks game preview

The Bobcats' penultimate game of this season is against the New York Knicks.

The Knicks are 53-27 coming into tonight's matchup and are the undisputed second seed in the Eastern Conference. Carmelo and company are gearing up for a playoff run, but first, they need to finish out the regular season.

The Bobcats are 19-61 and are trying to avoid being the only team in the NBA not to hit 20 victories this season (the Magic are at 20).

This season, the Bobcats are 0-2 against the Knicks, losing 100-98 on December 5 and 111-102 on March 29. The only thing going for Charlotte tonight is that the Knicks are running out a very small lineup due to injury problems. Right now, a 6'8" small forward (Chris Copeland) and a 6'10" power forward (Solomon Jones) are splitting time at center due to Tyson Chandler and Kenyon Martin being out. The Bobcats have the upper hand in the back court (Kemba and Henderson will do very well against Smith, Prigioni and Kidd), and now might even have the upper hand in the front court -- even with Mullens out.

Of course, the Knicks have Carmelo Anthony, who pretty much makes the entire Bobcats squad look like a college team. He's one of those guys that can do that.

This game will be closer than some might think, as the already-in-the-playoffs, injury-ridden Knicks are limping to the end of the season.

Let's get the Bobcats to 20!