Here's what Mr. Seth Rosenthal of the illustrious Posting and Toasting had to say we should know about the team in New York that Jay-Z doesn't partially own:

Well, so far, the Knicks have been playing sports even better than even the most optimistic of us expected. Oddly enough, their defense has been pretty average and it's been their offense propelling them to near the top of the league. Carmelo Anthony's been absolutely deadly, both in creating for himself and for his teammates key additions like Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd, and Ronnie Brewer have been better than most expected, and even fringe newbies like Pablo Prigioni, Chris Copeland, and Rasheed Wallace(!) have produced. And of course, Tyson Chandler remains the uber-efficient rock in the middle.

New York's style is slow, deliberate, and careful. The offense revolves around Melo, allowing him the room to attack and the spacing to kick to the perimeter so the ball can find an open man. New York's been taking care of the ball (in terms of turnover percentage) better than anybody in the league, and they're also shooting very often and very well from behind the arc. They switch a lot on defense, which has made for some lapses and permitted a lot of opponent rebounds, but has also helped them force a bunch of turnovers. The defense really betrayed the Knicks during a rough stretch a week or two ago, but got back on track against some meek competition this past week.

One thing you may or may not know: Ben Gordon has a history of killing the Knicks. Usually it's in the Garden, and I don't think there's been a recent iteration of said killing, but it's worth keeping in mind.

All told, I think this should be a good 'un. Charlotte's speedy guards and pick-and-roll game have the potential to punish a beat-up Knicks backcourt, and I suppose it's possible that the Knicks are overlooking this game for the Miami game the next night (they say they're not doing that, but you never know).