CHARLOTTE –  For all his supposed selfishness with the ball, nobody cherishes a secondary scorer like Carmelo Anthony does. He seemed lost without one during preseason and through the first four games – with no J.R. Smith and a struggling, tentative Andrea Bargnani.
As I had written in May, Melo had pined for management to add one in the off season. So the most important Knicks-rewind takeaway from Friday’s huge 101-91 victory over Patrick Ewing’s Bobcats is Melo found his secondary scorer in Bargnani Friday and will get another  wingman back Sunday when Smith makes his season debut in a noon matinee.
“He’s super-pumped,’’ says his brother Chris Smith.
The awful times for Melo may be over. He looks so much more vibrant and relaxed when he’s got serious help. In the playoffs last season when Smith couldn’t make a shot vs. Indiana, you saw Melo’s anguished face.  It brought him down too.
Melo looked like Melo Friday night, looked like the fluid, confident guy who was an MVP candidate last season – 28 points, 6 assists and 8 rebounds.  I had never seen Anthony as morose as after the Charlotte game Tuesday. Good for him for not only calling a player’s only meeting but also making it public through the media in questioning everyone’s commitment and belief. He put the pressure on.
Meanwhile, one of the big elements of the victory – which happened to be a big part of the meeting – was the lack of turnovers in Charlotte.  A total of 12 – a number reminiscent of last season’s turnover-free club.
Credit that two-point-guard alignment again with the crisp ball movement and lack of silly errors. Pablo Prigioni is a stabilizer – an analytics dream. Raymond Felton needs him to run the show.
The Knicks are now 2-0 with the two point guards starting  coming off last season when the team reeled off 13 straight victories down the stretch with Felton-Prigoni as a starting tandem.  That’s 2-0 with Pablo in the starting lineup – 0-3 without him.  He’s there to stay until Tyson Chandler comes back.
Finally, tip your hat to Bargnani coming through with all eyes on him.  But now let’s see if he can remain consistent.  His confidence eroded with every game before he had no choice but shoulder the responsibility Friday and shoot the ball when open.
Tentative. Afraid. That’s how he had been playing offensively. From the first game in preseason, he seemed to think too much when he got the pass and drove into traffic when he should’ve just uncorked an open jumper. He was rolling off the pick-and-pop and the Knicks got him the ball.
And defensively Friday, the 7-foot Bargnani showed he can move his feet, can contest shots and alter them and  switch on a quick point guard such as Kemba Walker.
“Like I told him before the game, during the game, that’s what we need,’’ Felton said. “We need him to be aggressive. If you miss a shot,  keep shooting. Because we think you can hit those shots. He proved that (Friday).  Hopeful ly that will give him confidence in later games. He doesn’t need to hesitate.’’
The sleeping Italian giant has been awoken. Â The season may have just started Friday night in Charlotte.