The Knicks' Carmelo Anthony dunks for two of his 36 points as Washington's Nene watches during the second half of the Knick victory. Associated Press

They may have won their first Atlantic Division title in 19 years by beating the visiting Washington Wizards, 120-99, on Tuesday, but the Knicks had two reasons for caution: The diminishing health of their big men and the fact that their ultimate goal remains far off.

"We win a division, that's accomplished, but the big picture is winning a title," coach Mike Woodson said prior to the win. "Again, I'm only in it for one thing. The division is great, because that is what we set out to do as a team, but the big picture is trying to win a championship."

That goal will be significantly more challenging unless the Knicks can get some of their post players back from injury.

Kenyon Martin, who was starting for center Tyson Chandler (bulging disc) and playing with a sore left knee, twisted his left ankle while going for a rebound in the fourth quarter. After writhing in pain for a few scary moments, Martin was taken in for X-rays, which came back negative. The Knicks announced his ankle is sprained, and he may miss Thursday's game.

Meanwhile, Chandler was said by Woodson to be resting after logging 76 minutes over his last two games. Chandler has only played four times since missing the Knicks' final 10 games of March, but still felt the need to ask Woodson for a night off.

"That was a physical game the other night," Woodson said of Sunday's win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. "He's sore, so if he tells me he needs some rest then I've got to listen and rest him and get him ready for the next game if he's capable of playing."

Chandler has not been ruled out of Thursday's game against the Chicago Bulls.

As for Tuesday's game, it wasn't much.

The Knicks connected on nine first-quarter 3-pointers (the NBA record is 11 for a quarter), the last of which was delivered by Chris Copeland at the end of the frame. Steve Novak added another three 3-pointers in the second quarter and the Knicks went into the locker room with a 15-point lead.

Carmelo Anthony, the reigning NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week, honored Bernard King—who was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday—by tying his franchise record with five consecutive 35-point performances. Anthony finished with 36 points on 13-of-21 shooting. He's hit 17 of 29 3-pointers over his last five games.

The win was the Knicks' 13th in a row. And, like the previous 12, they made a lot 3-pointers, ultimately tying a franchise record with 20 for the game. In fact, over the course of the winning streak, the Knicks have hit a league-high 152 3-pointers in "just" 358 attempts.

Once again, the Knicks struggled to contain Wizards point guard John Wall, who finished with 33 points, and they allowed 38 points in the paint, which is a sign of Chandler's absence.

The Knicks are still without several other key big men, such as Amar'e Stoudemire (right knee debridement), Marcus Camby (left plantar fasciitis), Rasheed Wallace (fractured let fifth metatarsal) and Kurt Thomas (right foot acute stress reaction), which is why Woodson has had to rely more on the 6-foot-10 Novak and 6-foot-8 Copeland, who aren't nearly as capable defensively.

It's a situation that could ultimately become costly in the playoffs.

"Offensively Chris has been fantastic this season," Woodson said. "I'm just trying to get more from him and Novak from a defensive standpoint because I know, as we get closer to this playoff run, if they're going to play, it's going to be valuable that they give us something on the defensive end.

"You find holes in your team in a playoff series and I don't want them to feel like they're being picked on," he added.

With the win, the Knicks (51-26) are nearly certain to land the second seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, relegating the Indiana Pacers (49-29) to the third seed.