"There's trouble brewing at both ends of the Knicks' court.

Dwight Howard will present a huge problem at the Garden Monday, when the Knicks entertain Orlando in their annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day matinee. Then there is the season-long issue of how to get Amar'e Stoudemire to resemble the same player who dominated at the offensive end last season.

"Me and 'Stat' talk every day about things I see and we see,'' said Carmelo Anthony, who hopes to return to face the Magic after missing the Knicks' one-sided loss to Oklahoma City Saturday with a sprained right ankle. "We communicate about that, ways we can get better as a unit. At the end of the day, if you're not having fun, it makes the situation that much more tense.''"