As it turns out, Carmelo Anthony's hideous 5-24 performance in the Knicks' loss to the Raptors wasn't merely the product of an off night. Melo, who could be seen wincing throughout the game, evidently took a hard blow to his right arm while defending DeMar DeRozan in the first quarter and struggled with pain and loss of sensation the rest of the night. Some tweets on the topic:

Steve Popper:

Knicks say Melo took a blow to biceps and struggled with feeling in arm.

Nate Taylor:

Carmelo Anthony: “It was kind of like a dead arm out there."

Jared Zwerling:

Melo suffered a contusion on his right arm. Was bothering him all game. He said his play in the All-Star Game is in question. #Knicks

I'm sure he'll still end up playing in Houston. If his arm is really still bugging him, he'll probably just start as expected but play limited minutes. (Or maybe Erik Spoelstra will sabotage Melo and play him all 48, then pull him aside afterward and gnaw off his fingers.)

Anyway, all of this begs the question: Carmelo, if you couldn't feel your right arm, why attempt 24 shots, many of which came off forced drives into traffic? Chris Herring asked:

I asked Melo why he kept shooting if his right arm was numb. He answered, then said, "You'd have to be a shooter to understand." #ImSad

Bleh. Time for an All-Star break, y'all.