Knicks president Donnie Walsh doesn’t care if it is a white Christmas, just a winning Christmas.
Traditionally, the Knicks have been to Christmas and the NBA what the Detroit Lions have been to Thanksgiving and the NFL.
As familiar as the stuffing and eggnog, the Knicks will make their league-high 45th Christmas appearance tomorrow at noon, hosting Miami at the Garden on ESPN. The Knicks’ date with Christmas stems all the way to 1947.
“New York does Christmas as good as any place in the world,” Walsh told The Post. “With the feel of the city, if you’re going to do a game on a holiday, this is the place. I hope we’re up to it.”
Mike D’Antoni’s Knicks have been up for anything of late — streaking to an 8-3 record in December, essentially since Nate Robinson was cropped out of the postcard. With four games left in December, the Knicks need two wins to post their first month of double-digit wins since 2003.
After a 1-9 start, the Knicks figured to be as buried as fall leaves on Christmas day. Instead, they are standing, though not as proudly as the tall tree at Rockefeller Center.
At 11-17, the Knicks are just a half-game out of the eighth and final playoff spot. Considering their depressing decade, these are relatively merry times at the World’s Most Famous Arena. Ho. Ho. Ho.
Tomorrow, the Knicks will forsake their white home uniforms and wear the green jerseys normally showcased on St. Patrick’s Day — with an added snowflake patch. The Heat and Dwayne Wade will don red. Christmas colors all about.
There is no truth to the rumor owner James Dolan will also sit at his baseline seat dressed up as Santa Claus.
Because of their eight-year run as the city’s Scrooges, the Knicks have been off the NBA Christmas card since 2001, when they beat Toronto at the Garden, 102-94, to move their all-time Christmas record to 20-24. It’s been their longest Dec. 25 layoff.
The Knicks’ return is a sign commissioner David Stern feels more comfortable with the direction of the franchise, relatively free of controversy from the embarrassing Isiah Thomas era and now fit for holiday consumption.
The Knicks were on national TV just once last season. This will be their second appearance after getting humiliated by LeBron James’ Cavaliers last month. Their final national TV showing is hosting Kobe Bryant’s Lakers Jan. 22.
And no, the Knicks aren’t bellyaching about playing on Christmas like the Giants did about Thanksgiving.
“It’s something exciting,” Knicks captain Chris Duhon said. “Honestly, I like to relax and be with your family and celebrate Christmas. But you have the opportunity to play on a holiday where everyone is watching, on national TV. That’s something that’s exciting. And we’re home for the holidays.”
The NBA has made a big marketing push to associate itself with Christmas the way the NFL does with Thanksgiving and the major leagues with July 4. Though the NHL has a rule barring Christmas games, the NBA will flood the airwaves with five national TV games tomorrow — 12 hours of wall-to-wall coverage — with Knicks-Heat as the warm-up act.
Larry Hughes leads the Knicks in Christmas performances — playing three times.
“It’s fine,” said Hughes, who has three young children. “You do Christmas with the family the night before. It’s always good to be on national TV. Everyone gets around the TV and watches the games on Christmas. It’s definitely good for the fans and the exposure.”
The highlight comes at 5 p.m. with the potential Lakers-Cavaliers Finals preview pitting James vs. Bryant.
The Christmas games will be aired in 215 countries in 39 languages. The five games will also be shown on American Forces Networks to all military bases and ships around the globe.
“When they told us we would play on Christmas, I was like, where?” Walsh recalled. “When they said the Garden, I said, that’s better.”