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Thomas may have incited Melo

Chris Tomasson, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 18, 2006 at midnight

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Perhaps more than a half-dozen players will be suspended for their roles in Saturday's brawl at Madison Square Garden. But what about a coach?

The NBA is looking into whether New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas might have played a role in instigating a fight that resulted in 10 players being ejected, including Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony, from Denver's 123-100 win.

Calvin Andrews, the agent for Anthony, said Sunday that Thomas had warned Anthony about the Nuggets leaving starters in during a lopsided game shortly before the brawl erupted.

Thomas does not have a good relationship with Nuggets coach George Karl.

With 1:15 left and Denver up 119-100, Knicks rookie Mardy Collins got the fracas started when he made a flagrant foul on Nuggets guard J.R. Smith as he went in for a breakaway layup or dunk.

In addition to Anthony and Smith, others on the floor for Denver were starters Marcus Camby and Andre Miller and Eduardo Najera, who didn't start Saturday but usually does.

"He said, 'Why are you all in the game?' Andrews said of Thomas' conversation to Anthony shortly before Collins' foul.

Andrews said Anthony called it Karl's decision. Andrews said Thomas then told Anthony, "You and your teammates better not go to the hole."

After Anthony, who has reported his version to an NBA investigator, wondered why, Andrews said Thomas said, "You might get hurt."

The New York Times studied the tape of the Madison Square Garden Network broadcast. The paper reported that, with 1:32 left and Camby shooting free throws, Thomas appears to say, "Hey, don't go to the basket right now. It wouldn't be nice." And then seconds later Thomas was reported to say, "Just letting you know."

The New York Post reported Thomas said to Anthony, "Stay out of the paint," and then "I'm just letting you know."

After Collins' hard foul on Smith, a melee erupted. Anthony could face the biggest penalty for punching Collins. Some observers believe it could be around 10 games.

Andrews said Thomas also needs to be disciplined. Andrews said the feeling among Denver's players is Thomas sent "explicit instructions" on how "to respond" to Karl leaving in starters.

After the game, Andrews said that Thomas told Anthony, "I told you so," referring to Thomas' alleged warning.

Thomas admitted he had a discussion with Anthony in which he said Denver's top players should have been taken out of the blowout.

"I just said to (Anthony), 'You're up 19 with a minute and half to go,' " Thomas said Saturday. "You and Camby really shouldn't be in the game right now. We had surrendered.

"They were sticking it to us pretty good. . . . I think J.R. Smith had just made a dunk where he reverses it and spins in the air. I thought that Mardy didn't want to have our home crowd see that again, and he fouled him."

Thomas and Karl were at odds last summer. At the (Las) Vegas Summer League, Thomas had a heated conversation with Karl because Karl was critical about how the Knicks handled the firing of previous coach Larry Brown, a friend of Karl's.

Publicists for the Knicks and Nuggets said their coaches were unavailable Sunday. Karl declined to comment after Saturday's game on keeping in his top players.

Hall of Famer Rick Barry, who hosts an NBA show on Sirius Satellite Radio, said both teams are to blame. But he said, "Why was Carmelo even in the game at that point? He should have been on the bench."