OAKLAND, Calif. — Carmelo Anthony is 32 years old. By conventional actuarial tables, he is in the prime of his adult life. In N.B.A. terms, however, Anthony is grizzled beyond his years — a fact that was thrown into sharper relief Thursday, when the Knicks announced hours before tipoff that he would sit out the team’s marquee matchup against the Golden State Warriors.
It was the first game this season that Anthony, who has logged more than 36,000 regular-season and playoff minutes in a career that dates to 2003, has missed. Anthony is 11th among active N.B.A. players in terms of career regular-season minutes played.
Without Anthony, whose absence was ascribed to a sore right shoulder, and point guard Derrick Rose, held out because of a sore back, the Knicks provided little resistance to the Warriors. Golden State, holders of the league’s best record at 23-4, steadily pulled away for a 103-90 victory at…