NBA

Walsh says he’ll take blame for Knicks swoon

In an attempt to take heat off coach Mike D’Antoni, team president Donnie Walsh said the Knicks’ doldrums since the Carmelo Anthony trade are his fault because he broke up a team in midseason and the dividends may not pay off right away.

“I take more responsibility than the players or the coaches because I made a monumental trade in the middle of the season, and it appears to me they’re having a hard time getting together, which is understandable,” Walsh said.

“That’s why I don’t like to do it in the middle of the season,” Walsh added. “We gave up a lot. We got back a lot. But I do think this trade is going to make us better in the future. In the long run, this trade will make us a better franchise.”

Walsh’s remarks last night echoed Anthony’s comments Sunday that the club may not get on the same page until next season.

The Knicks have lost three in a row and are 7-9 since the 13-player Melo blockbuster after last night’s 96-86 loss to the Celtics in which they blew a 15-point second-half lead.

D’Antoni has taken heat for the slump. Walsh is taking the blame is ironic because, according to multiple sources, owner James Dolan engineered the trade, which Walsh felt was too costly.

“It’s really hard,” Walsh said of D’Antoni’s plight. “I’ve asked our coach to live with two years where we were breaking it down [for cap space], and now I’m asking him to put this team together after the trade deadline.”

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Ex-Knick Kelenna Azubuike, who was released after the trade deadline, will undergo a second knee surgery 16 months after his initial patella tendon operation. A Knicks source recently said the initial surgery went badly.

“They put his knee back together wrong,” the source said.

Last night, Azubuike confirmed on Twitter, “The 1st surgery in 09 wasn’t done right. Gettin it done right this time!”

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Center Earl Barron became a free agent when he was not re-signed by Milwaukee yesterday, but Walsh said he would pass for now despite the Knicks’ center woes. According to a source, Walsh likes Barron, but doesn’t want to sign him because D’Antoni won’t play him over Jared Jeffries or Ronny Turiaf.