Carmelo Anthony doesn’t go looking for pressure, but he said he has to accept and embrace it when it’s there. And it’s definitely there, after Knicks owner James Dolan heaped pressure on the team by Sunday guaranteeing a victory Wednesday in Atlanta. Anthony said the Knicks have no choice but to deliver.
Following the humbling 120-89 matinee loss to San Antonio at the Garden Sunday, Dolan — performing with his blues band, JD & The Straight Shot, at the Cutting Room in Manhattan — promised the Knicks would beat the Hawks.
“He had a concert?” Anthony asked incredulously. When informed Dolan not only performed but prognosticated, Anthony replied: “I guess we’ve got to win. If the owner said it, I guess we’ve got to make it happen. We want to win, you know, if he said he put the pressure on us to go out there and win the game.’’
Coach Mike Woodson — who heard calls for his job from the Garden crowd in the Spurs beating, and refused to say whether Dolan supported him in their regularly scheduled postgame meeting — said pressure is always there.
“Again, as a coach, I think every time we suit it up and step on the floor, we’re supposed to win,’’ Woodson said. “That’s just how I feel as a coach. I want our players to feel the same way. That is how I feel.’’