The Los Angeles Lakers will visit Madison Square Garden on Tuesday for a road game against the New York Knicks. It will be a return to familiar surroundings for Carmelo Anthony who was a Knicks player for seven seasons.

Ahead of the game, Melo talked about the significance that New York City has for him. “I always look forward to playing in the Garden, playing in front on the fans whether with the Knicks or against the Knicks,” Anthony said.

“For me that love is different. That fanbase is different for me here in New York and like I said it goes deeper than basketball. They embrace me, I embrace them. I don’t think that bond between myself and New York City will ever go anywhere. That’s why I embrace it the way that I do.

“But I’m looking forward to tomorrow, the crowd. The Knicks are playing great basketball. They have some good energy up here. We know how Thibs’ teams are. They are a very tough team. We know we have to come out and play our heart out tomorrow night. It’d be great to get a win in the Garden, I’ll tell you that.”

Both teams share similar regular season records. The Lakers are 9-9 while the Knicks are 9-8.