Knicks

Amid the latest report that he could be headed to the New York area — this time, to the Knicks, not the Nets — Carmelo Anthony said after practice Wednesday that he isn't affected in any way by the renewed trade speculation. The Nuggets' forward said the rumblings don't change anything about his preparations for the upcoming season, insisting, "I'm still able to wake up in the morning, smile, come here, laugh and joke with my teammates, play basketball and compete.

Heat impressive Shandel Richardson Sun Sentinel The Knicks are the league's only unbeaten team. But the team playing the best is the Heat. It sounds silly to say when the Knicks spanked the Heat last week, but no team has been more impressive than Miami. The Heat are leading the league in scoring, which is trouble for the rest of the NBA. Erik Spoelstra will have his team returning to its defensive identity soon as Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis adjust. Now, the league's best defensive team has an offense that has proved difficult to defend.

Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said Nate Robinson was not benched for taking a shot at the wrong basket Saturday. The Knicks inbounded to Robinson in the backcourt with 0.5 seconds left in the first quarter of their 98-91 victory at New Jersey. Rather than just hold the ball, or heave one at the basket the Knicks were attacking, Robinson turned and shot at his own basket. The shot went in, but it was released after the buzzer and didn't count. D'Antoni yelled at Robinson on the court between quarters.

Carmelo Anthony is one of New York's biggest sports stars, but the Baltimore native made his allegiances clear at the Knicks' training camp Wednesday. "I've been an Orioles fan since I was like eight years old," Anthony told ESPN New York . "I actually have a tattoo, too. I've never been a Yankees fan. I'm close with some of the guys on the team. I support them. I have some mixed feelings right now. Here in New York you have to support the Yankees, but I'm an Orioles fan. " With the Knicks not playing a preaseason game Friday, Anthony said he plans to attend a potential Game 5 and would "wear an Orioles hat. " "I watched the games, man. It's a tough series," Anthony said.

Chris Duhon made the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 3 seconds left, Danilo Gallinari followed with two more and the Knicks pulled out a 97-93 victory Thursday that snapped the three-game win streak of the visiting Bobcats. Wilson Chandler scored a season-high 27 points to lead the Knicks, who hit six 3-pointers in the final quarter and 12 overall. David Lee had 22 points and Gallinari finished with 17 for the Knicks, who have won three straight and 11 of 16. • Rafer Alston got his wish, signing with the Heat for the remainder of the season and getting the chance to play alongside Dwyane Wade again.

Now for the arrival of The 13th Knick … Or not. "Our own Big Three" reunited last week, eight months after Chris Paul joked about forming it with Amare Stoudemire in his toast at Carmelo Anthony's wedding, in New York, of course. That was when Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke stomped out, went home and told his people to trade Melo. Even with Paul stuck in New Orleans, it was as if CAA, The Movie Star Agency, had brought him in for the 2011-12 Team Picture of Knick Dreams.

Carmelo Anthony is heading to New York. The Knicks acquired Anthony on Monday night, and the consensus among national columnists is that the Knicks will return to relevance with Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire, who are expected to become one of the league's top frontcourt tandems. We're still sorting out all the moving pieces of the deal (after all, this is like a 47-player deal , right?). The Knicks will reportedly send send Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and a 2014 first-round draft pick to the Nuggets, along with more picks and cash.

The Knicks have signed free agent Jonathan Bender , marking the oft-injured forward's return to the NBA after a three-year absence. The 7-foot Bender, selected out of high school by Toronto with the fifth overall pick in the 1999 draft but traded to Indiana the same day, enjoyed his best season in 2001-02, when he averaged career highs of 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 78 games for the Pacers. But injuries forced Bender, 28, to miss 172 games in the next three seasons before chronic knee pain sidelined him indefinitely in February 2006.

At least NY not shut out Lisa Dillman Los Angeles Times Amare Stoudemire, who agreed to a max-level deal with the Knicks on Monday, has turned into an uber civic booster, a one-man chamber of commerce president, vowing to reach out to LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Tony Parker. And if he had more time he probably would have mentioned Blake Griffin, John Wall and Evan Turner. But the preemptive strike, more than anything else, does save the Knicks from the worst-case scenario — total embarrassment.

The Knicks won't sign Allen Iverson , believing any short-term gain would hinder their plans to build for the future. Team president Donnie Walsh said Friday the team won't make any additions at this time despite its 2-9 record. He added the decision to pass on the former MVP had nothing to do with Iverson's ability to play or his character in the locker room. "I've always admired him," Walsh said. "I think he'd be a great addition for a team that's in a different position than we're in, and I hope he gets picked up."

It appears Jeremy Lin is leaving New York, and for once, Knicks owner James Dolan has decided to put the checkbook down. By not matching a 3-year, $25.1 million offer sheet from the Houston Rockets, Lin is heading to Texas. Dolan has a history of throwing money at his problems -- with both the Knicks and New York Rangers, which he also owns -- and this time, he didn't. He just felt it wasn't worth it, and I have to agree. There's no question Lin can play in the NBA and produce. His 14 points and six assists per game last season are evident of that.

Don't blame Carmelo Anthony if the Knicks don't match Jeremy Lin's offer sheet from the Houston Rockets. Anthony said in a text message with Yahoo! Sports on Sunday that if the Knicks don't match the offer sheet for the point guard, it's not because of Anthony. Still, Anthony didn't appear excited at the prospect of the Knicks offering what he views as an oddly structured contract. Yahoo! Sports reported that the Knicks are unlikely to bring Lin back. “It's up to the organization to say they want to match that ridiculous contract that's out there,” Anthony told reporters following Team USA's practice Sunday.

As an entertainment entrepreneur, Earl Monroe is engaged in putting together a reality television show with a woking title of "What If?" As a Hall of Famer who wears a ring he received for being one of the NBA's top-50 all-time players, Monroe asks the same question of himself. What if he had not been traded from the Baltimore Bullets to the New York Knicks early in the 1971-72 season? "I would have been revered as a different type of player, who would have accomplished all the things that I started out to accomplish," Monroe, 67, said this month, sitting at a table at Samos Restaurant in Greektown.

The surprising success of N.Y. Knicks' guard Jeremy Lin has become one of the year's best sports/human interest stories  -- and e-book authors are rushing to cash in on it. Lin, an Asian-American who graduated from Harvard, wasn't drafted by an NBA team and was cut by two teams before finding a spot far down the Knicks' bench. Injuries to other players gave him a chance to start, and he has been phenomenal ever since (except for Thursday's disaster against the Miami Heat). Whenever there's a good story, publishers won't be far behind.

Big-game settings are nothing new to former Maryland star Greivis Vasquez. The intensity of the matchups with Duke and North Carolina during his years in College Park, as well as what he experienced as an NBA rookie last season with the Memphis Grizzlies, certainly prepared Vasquez well for what he encountered in New York on Friday night. Now with the New Orleans Hornets, Vasquez met Linsanity -- and Knicks phenomenon Jeremy Lin -- head on. Nobody is saying Vasquez was the reason the heretofore woeful but suddenly hot Hornets beat a Knicks team that had won seven straight games with Lin as its newfound star, but Vasquez certainly played his part.

The phenomenal debut of New York Knicks' rookie Jeremy Lin -- a Harvard-educated Asian-American -- has stunned the basketball world. Lin was not offered a Division I scholarship, went undrafted after college, and was cut by two NBA teams this season. But he was picked up by the Knicks, and after warming the bench for a bit, has led the team to six straight wins. According to ESPN, in his first five games as a starter, he scored more points than any other NBA rookie -- including Shaq.

The Lakers are the NBA's most valuable team, and 12 franchises lost money in the 2008-09 season, according to Forbes magazine. In its annual listing of the value of NBA franchises, Forbes finds the Lakers to be worth $607 million, up 4 percent for the league champions. Second are the Knicks at $586 million, but that is a 4 percent drop. The Knicks led the rankings the four previous seasons. The Bulls ($511 million), Pistons ($479 million) and Cavaliers ($476 million) round out the top five.

Has the Mike D'Antoni countdown begun in New York? With the Knicks unable to run his offense and playing no defense before owner James Dolan traded most of their players for Carmelo Anthony — guess who gets to be the scapegoat? D'Antoni has done all he can do to keep himself from screaming he hated the Anthony deal. Here's what he said last week about the Knicks' and Nuggets' differing directions: "We were going well on a team that was playing a certain way and in the playoffs, and they (Nuggets)

He's good, but no star K.C. Johnson Chicago Tribune Jeremy Lin is the real deal — as long as the expectation is NBA rotation player and not star. There's a reason Lin went undrafted, got cut and sat low on the depth chart until recently. And, yes, his breakout is one of the best storylines of this NBA season. However, Lin's five-game run has come against three bad teams and a Lakers team with an aging Derek Fisher trying to guard him. Lin appears to be an excellent pick-and-roll player, so that skill should translate to him lasting.

Has the Mike D'Antoni countdown begun in New York? With the Knicks unable to run his offense and playing no defense before owner James Dolan traded most of their players for Carmelo Anthony — guess who gets to be the scapegoat? D'Antoni has done all he can do to keep himself from screaming he hated the Anthony deal. Here's what he said last week about the Knicks' and Nuggets' differing directions: "We were going well on a team that was playing a certain way and in the playoffs, and they (Nuggets)