NBA

Anthony, Chandler returning to London with Knicks

During the Knicks’ quest to win their first NBA title in 40 years, Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler will be reminded what it feels like to be on top of the world.

The NBA officially announced yesterday that the Knicks will play the Pistons in a regular-season game on Jan. 17 at The O2 in London, the site of Team USA’s gold medal glory in Olympic basketball this summer.

The contest will count as a Detroit home game, so the Knicks will keep 41 regular-season home games at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks’ one-game road trip will be surrounded by three off-days before and after the trip, with the previous and following games being played at the Garden.

“I think it’s a nice mixture, and it’ll give us a chance to change the pace a little bit,” coach Mike Woodson said. “I haven’t done that as a coach before, so I’m kind of looking forward to going over.”

This will be the NBA’s third regular-season game in Europe, following a pair of games between the Nets and Raptors in 2011, also played at The O2. The Knicks’ most recent international trip was in 2010 when they played in preseason games in Milan and Paris.

* J.R. Smith sat out yesterday’s practice with a sore left ankle. He received treatment, but emerged during the end of practice and shot around on the side. Woodson said that Smith is fine, but with the injuries to shooting guards Iman Shumpert and Ronnie Brewer, the coach took precaution.

Until Shumpert and Brewer return, Woodson said he will try different combinations in the backcourt during training camp and the preseason, which could include Jason Kidd, Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni occupying the off-guard slot.

“I probably will experiment with that until I’m able to get my two twos back,” Woodson said. “There are a few combinations. The fact that we’re a little beat up at the two-spot, you could play Kidd at some two and then Pablo could come in and free up him or Raymond. J.R. Smith will occupy a lot of the minutes at two as well. We’ve got some options and only time will tell in being able to see what we actually have.”