There isn’t a doubt any longer which borough is home to the best basketball team or the city’s best player.
The Brooklyn commute to Manhattan can be a bear, and Wednesday night it became a disastrous trip for the struggling Nets in their first-ever foray to the Garden with “Brooklyn’’ written across their chests.
The Knicks got back their main man Carmelo Anthony and they got back their dominant ways at the Garden as he dropped 31 points on the Nets in a 100-86 rout.
“We wanted to make a statement,” said center Tyson Chandler, who nearly tore down the Garden rims in a flurry of violent dunks that resulted in his 16 points and 12 rebounds.
And that statement was? “That we’re New York’s team,’’ Raymond Felton said.
Touche. Two days after Linsanity ruled the Melo-less Garden when the Rockets handed the Knicks their first home loss, Anthony put on an effortless performance, as the Knicks took command in the third quarter and held the Nets to 38 second-half points.
It was the third time in 23 days the teams have met, and the Knicks (19-6) have won the last two to take a fat six-game lead over the Nets (13-12) in the Atlantic Division. But the recent slide by the Nets doesn’t take the heat out of the cross-town clash.
“They are right across the bridge,’’ said Anthony, born and bred in Red Hook. “Brooklyn and the Knicks will always be there. It will always be a rivalry from here on out.’’
Anthony, though, seems in the minority in the locker room on the rivalry issue. Asked where the rivalry stands, Chandler sounded bored. “Not much. It’s no different than playing the Celtics or anybody else.’’
Anthony, who sat out the last two games with a sprained left ankle, made his decision to aid the depleted club an hour before tip-off and shot 12-of-22 — 4-of-8 on 3-pointers. Anthony looked neither hindered by the injury nor rusty but claimed afterward his ankle still is “bruised.’’
“I wasn’t too sure until I went out there,’’ he said. “I was sliding, doing some lateral movements. Throughout the game, I was feeling it a bit. There were certain things I did early on in the game I didn’t think I’d be able to do.”
Anthony’s 3-pointer with 5:40 left in transition put the Knicks up 89-76 and served as the dagger. He heard the loudest “M-V-P” chants of the season as he shot free throws with 3:00 left.
“Doctors told me he was playing [last night] and I was excited,’’ Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. “He wasn’t 100 percent, [but] I’ll take whatever percent he was at tonight. He was awesome. There is no doubt in my mind he is an MVP candidate. He is playing at a high level and it is scary.”
“He‘s a special player,” Chandler added. “Not many in this world can take four days off and score 30 points.”
Anthony got plenty of help from Chandler, who clicked wonderfully with Raymond Felton on the alley-oop lobs off pick-and-rolls. He also had a key bat of an offensive board back to Anthony for a 3-pointer during a second-quarter surge. J.R. Smith also punched in 19 points off the bench and rising rookie Chris Copeland came off the pine in Steve Novak’s flu-ridden absence for a much-needed eight points (3-of-4).
The Nets’ losing streak extended to three games and put them on a 2-8 skid in their past 10. Nets point guard Deron Williams had a solid outing (16 points, 10 assists) but got no help. Joe Johnson bricked the night away at 5-of-14 and Kris Humphries scored as many points as Kim Kardashian — zero.
“[Anthony] is on another planet right now,’’ Nets coach Avery Johnson said.
“Carmelo is playing so well now,” said Patrick Ewing, who sat on celebrity row during the game. “You guys in the media gave him all that grief for not passing the ball. He’s passing it,”
Anthony also looked limber. He missed his first shot but got rolling soon after. Anthony got out on the fastbreak early, taking an outlet feed from Chandler for a transition layup.
“He had fresh legs,’’ Jason Kidd said. “A young guy with fresh legs, that’s trouble.”
Chandler and Felton kept connecting on alley-oop lobs for dunks. Chandler, who scored a career-high 27 points vs. the Nets in the initial meeting, racked up 14 points by the end of the third quarter. The Knicks, so sloppy vs. Houston, finished with just seven turnovers.
“It’s momentum-building and confidence-building,’’ Anthony said of Chandler’s dunks.