Carmelo Anthony appears to be saving himself for Canada.
It is unlikely Anthony will test his sprained left ankle Friday at the Garden against the first-place Raptors. It appears he will take one more game off and suit up in Toronto at Air Canada Centre on Saturday when the home-and-home series concludes.
The Knicks officially are listing Anthony as questionable after he sat out practice Thursday to rest. He bolted for the locker room at their Tarrytown facility when media was allowed into the gym. Mike Woodson said he was surprised Anthony backed out of the Oklahoma City clash on Christmas an hour before tipoff, claiming to be too sore. Trying to play a back-to-back upon his return would seem risky.
Woodson wouldn’t rule him out completely, saying the back-to-back isn’t a factor for the coach.
“We’ll see how he is [Friday] and evaluate him,’’ Woodson said. “If he says he’s ready to go, we’ll put him in uniform and play him.’’
The Knicks couldn’t overcome playing without Anthony against the Thunder, losing by 29 points. Woodson started a frontline of Tyson Chandler, Andrea Bargnani and J.R. Smith at small forward. Woodson could replace Smith with Kenyon Martin against the Raptors.
Anthony, whose left shoulder has held up well after rehabbing a torn rotator cuff all summer, will likely miss his second game this season as he’s been healthier than his first two Knicks seasons. He missed 15 games last season, including two with a sprained ankle. He played 55 of the 66 games in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season with various ailments.
Andrea Bargnani faced the Raptors twice in preseason in Toronto, but Friday will mark his first regular-season game against the franchise he spent seven years with. Bargnani played a season-low 16 minutes against OKC on Wednesday, likely benched because of his failure to rotate on defense.
“I played him 16 minutes — I’m sure that will grow [Friday] when we play Toronto,’’ Woodson said. “He’ll play more.’’
Bargnani is averaging 14.1 points on 43.9 percent shooting, but is just 28.9 percent from 3-point range. He is averaging five rebounds in 30 minutes and still hasn’t mastered Woodson’s defensive rotations.
Steve Novak, the ex-Knicks 3-point sniper who was part of the Bargnani trade, should receive a nice welcome Friday in his Garden return. Novak has played in 17 of Toronto’s 26 games, averaging 12 minutes and 3.5 points. … Woodson paid a rare compliment to Iman Shumpert: “I think he’s one of our best defenders,’’ Woodson said. “We always try to stick him on one of the top players we play against. He’s done a great job, but I need more guys to do that.’’