DENVER — Carmelo Anthony wasn’t surprised about Jason Kidd’s cup-dropping incident against the Lakers on Wednesday. That’s the kind of savvy the Nets coach displayed in his one season as a Knick last year.
Kidd picked up a $50,000 fine from the NBA, but also got his coaching staff a chance to draw up a final play.
“That goes to show you what kind of person he is,’’ Anthony said Friday before he missed the last-second shot in the Knicks’ 97-95 loss to the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. “He’ll do whatever he has to do to win. He protects his team.’’
Kidd protected the Knicks last season with his play and savvy and helped the Knicks to an 18-5 start and 54-28 finish. With Tyson Chandler out, Anthony is the lone leader now on a 3-12 club.
It’s not only Kidd’s leadership that is missed, Anthony said. The Knicks had cagey veterans that made them the oldest club in NBA history last season.
“That makeup of the team was different [last year],’’ said Anthony, who lost another homecoming game in Denver. “With J-Kidd, he was a leader in his own right. He wasn’t a vocal leader like a Rasheed [Wallace] or Kurt Thomas. He was leader by example on the court. His hard work, his play, everyone fed off that. And everyone led in their own way. Now we do miss that — J-Kidd, Kurt, Kurt and Rasheed. Last year as a team we were more synchronized than right now due to chemistry, due to having fun, due to just having one another’s back.’’
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Chandler won’t return from his broken leg until the tail end of his four-to-six week timetable. Wednesday will mark four weeks since the timetable was set. Coach Mike Woodson said Chandler “could be” two weeks away because he hasn’t started running on the court. Chandler, who made the road trip, said it could be two weeks, but may be even longer.
“He’s still going through rehab,’’ Woodson said. “He’s running a little bit but not on the floor. I don’t know how far down the road he is.’’
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Woodson defended himself Friday regarding the heated incident between himself and Kidd during the 2009-10 season that cost the coach a technical when he guided Atlanta. Kidd, then with Dallas, intentionally charged into Woodson with his elbow as he dribbled upcourt down the left sideline, proving to referees the former Hawks coach was a couple of feet inside the court. Replays showed Woodson irate at Kidd and jawing at him. Woodson appeared to be joking when he said he got revenge on Kidd last season.
“I got a piece of him back last year at camp,’’ Woodson said. He then added, “It was a smart move, but at the end of the day, when the contact occurred, I was out of bounds. It should’ve been our ball. [But] he changed the whole dynamics of the game.’’
Woodson said he has never thrown a cup and Kidd didn’t learn it from him.
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Ex-Knick Danilo Gallinari, who tore his ACL late last season, isn’t close to making his Denver season debut, but has denied rumors he won’t return this season. … After going winless in November at the Garden, the Knicks return home Sunday to play host to New Orleans.