Jason Kidd has a message for Kevin Garnett: It’s not going to work this time.
Kidd fully expects Garnett and the Celtics to try to get under the Knicks’ skin in the best-of-seven-game series beginning Saturday at the Garden. Garnett and Carmelo Anthony supposedly made up following their January tango that led to Anthony’s one-game suspension. But in the postseason, all pacts are off.
“Boston has a team with talkers there,’’ Kidd said. “It’s a part of this game. It’s part of basketball. It’s for us and our job to play and let our play do all the talking. We know they’re trying to get at us mentally.”
Kidd was disappointed over the Anthony-Garnett cereal tiff in January at the Garden. Anthony completely lost his cool and continued to lash out at Garnett, who allegedly started the verbal warfare by making a crude comment about Anthony’s wife, La La. Anthony compounded his miserable fourth quarter by chasing Garnett into the player tunnel by the locker room, then again trying to confront him by the Celtics bus.
“I think Melo has grown from the experience,” Kidd said. “The team has grown. We don’t expect anything less from KG or anyone on the team to talk trash.”
Kenyon Martin told The Post’s Steve Serby he will have Anthony’s back in any potential skirmish with Garnett. Anthony said he won’t need Martin.
“We’re not worrying about that,” Anthony said. “Mentally, we’re locked in. We’re focused. We’re trying to win the series. As far as all the trash talking stuff goes, hey, it’s part of the game. They’re not going to get us with that. We’re ready to play. That’s all I can say.”
* Coach Mike Woodson said he has thought about starting James White over Chris Copeland in place of the ailing Pablo Prigioni to give the lineup a better defender against the Celtics’ Jeff Green. But Copeland said there was a “good chance” he will get the starting nod. Woodson said Prigioni is expected to miss Game 1.
* Amar’e Stoudemire did some shooting and some light work with the offense, with Round 2 being targeted for his comeback.
“He’s coming back,’’ Woodson said. “But I don’t think it’s any time soon.’’
* Iman Shumpert missed practice because of what the team termed “personal reasons.” It is believed Shumpert flew to Chicago for the funeral of his friend Billy Taylor, killed last week in an alleged hit-and-run while the Knicks were in town.
* Celtics guard Jason Terry knows a Sixth Man of the Year Award winner when he sees one after taking the honor in 2009. And Terry sees one in the Knicks’ J.R. Smith.
“J.R. Smith should be the Sixth Man of the Year in my eyes,” Terry said at the Celtics’ practice at Columbia. “He’s finally taken that title away from me. But he earned it.”
* One day after Woodson won Coach of the Month, the Knicks made it a clean sweep when Anthony was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month and Copeland tabbed Rookie of the Month.
* Deputy commissioner Adam Silver confirmed the NBA is holding discussions with the Knicks and Nets about splitting the All-Star Weekend in 2015. One site would host the All-Star Game on Sunday after the other holds the Rookie Challenge on Friday and skills competitions on Saturday. The Post reported in February 2012 the Garden was a virtual lock to host the 2015 All-Star Game, and that it would be passed over for 2014 because the league did not want to compete with the New York-based Super Bowl. Last Feb. 14, The Post reported the Garden was the favorite for 2015 and Barclays Center would likely host one of the undercard events.
—Additional reporting by Fred Kerber