You Think THAT's Running Up the Score?

Tonight the Denver Nuggets return to Madison Square Garden for the first time since last December's MSG Melee -- and conditions are ripe for an example of running up the score that would make Bill Belichick blush.

Well, maybe not Bill Belichick.

Let's review the factors leading up to the original fight:

• George Karl doesn't like Isiah Thomas -- partially because of the way Isiah treated Karl's buddy and fellow Carolina alum Larry Brown.
• Karl's Nuggets were up 19 on the Knicks with about two minutes left in the game, and had four of his five starters on the floor.
• Thomas issued a not-terribly-veiled threat to Carmelo Anthony
• Anthony takes a flagrant foul on a dunk attempt
• Chaos ensues

Which brings us to tonight...

Denver enters the game sporting two of the best perimeter scorers in the NBA in Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. New York, on the other hand, has a roster full of guards and wing players that are either incapable of or indifferent towards defense in general. The Vegas line for tonight's game is 212 points. The Nuggets might score that by themselves. 'Melo and AI might score 40 each. Meanwhile, Isiah Thomas' approval rating in New York is hovering somewhere in "Vice President Cheney after he shot that guy" territory.

For added fun, J.R. Smith -- noted troublemaker and participant in the original brawl -- is eligible to return from suspension this evening.

You know Furious George wouldn't pass up an opportunity to make Zeke look bad, right?

You know Zeke won't back down from that sort of challenge, right?

Don't be too terribly surprised if, at some point in the second half tonight, when the Knicks are down by 30 or so, Thomas sends out a lineup of Mardy Collins, Malik Rose, Jerome James, Nate Robinson, and Sean Avery, on loan from the Rangers.

One more note on the MSG Melee

Can't believe I didn't make this connection sooner... but it's become obvious to me why Isiah Thomas has decided that Mardy Collins will serve as his designated late-game hockey goon. Collins played for John Chaney at Temple -- a coach and program with a well-known history for this sort of thing.

My only question is why hasn't some intrepid ESPN reported located Nehemiah Ingram or John Bryant for the requisite "Where are they now?" piece and reaction to the controversy?

Maybe all the reporters from the "Worldwide Leader" are still chasing Jeffrey Maier around Disneyworld.

We talk, but we can't fight

The "best reaction to the melee at MSG" award goes to coach Sam Mitchell of the Toronto Raptors... and no one else even comes close.

We can't fight. Understand something. We talk, but we can't fight. Are we really calling that a fight?

You don't stand toe to toe and trade haymakers. It's kind of like, you duck, close your eyes, (throw) an overhead, wild right swing which (doesn't) connect to anything, or a kick as you're backing up.

Thank you, Sam.

The Mike Lupicas of the world would have you believe that fans at the Garden on Saturday were subjected to violence unseen since the first ten minutes of Saving Private Ryan.

What they really saw: a hard foul, some pushing and shoving and wrestling, an awkward, glancing punch and a guy skipping backwards the length of the floor.

Read the full account of Mitchell's reaction in this Toronto Star article.

Knicks vs. Nuggets: The Response

Now THERE's the David Stern we all know and love.

I was getting a little concerned that Mr. Stern was going soft when he backed down on the whole "synthetic ball" fiasco. I mean -- he's David freakin' Stern -- since when does a little unfair labor practices complaint bother David Stern?

Mr. Stern was back on point today, handing out suspensions like they were those small-and-unsatisfying candy canes you get from Santa's elves at the mall...

• Carmelo Anthony: 15 games
• Nate Robinson: 10 games
• J. R. Smith: 10 games
• Mardy Collins: 6 games
• Jared Jeffries: 4 games
• Nene: 1 game
• Jerome James: 1 game

If you're wondering how these penalties compare with recent NBA history, ESPN.com has a recap of some of the NBA's greatest fights. This thing reads like a commercial for one of those "Pride Fighting" pay-per-view events -- but it's hard to imagine why the epic Knicks/Heat brawl in the '98 playoffs doesn't merit its own bullet point. I mean, c'mon -- how often do you see Jeff VanGundy clinging to Alonzo Mourning's leg like a fireman sliding down a pole?

Not often enough.

But enough of ancient history.

Does the punishment fit the crime? Probably. Everyone knew that 'Melo was going to get hit hardest... partially because he threw gasoline on the fire by taking a swing at Collins after the initial flare-up had died out... and partially because he's by far the biggest-name player involved, and David Stern don't play dat. I'm actually sort of surprised that Robinson didn't get the same penalty as Anthony. Little Nate's role in fanning the flames was pretty obvious, and he's been anything but repentant.

The sentences for Smith and Jeffries seem about right, and Nene and James got the automatic one-game rip for leaving the bench. (It's hard to fault James... he doesn't get to leave the bench that often these days.)

Conspicuous by his absence: Isiah Thomas. And y'know what? I'm glad.

This is probably the first and last time I'll defended Isiah in this space... but c'mon. The basketball world spent 24 hours foaming at the mouth over the possibility that (gasp) Thomas told Carmelo Anthony not to go into the paint before the fight broke out. The most shrill of the voices, the Daily News' Mike Lupica, says Thomas was threatening Anthony.

And I say: so what if he was?

Has the NBA really reached the point where a hard foul against a guy attempting a showy dunk in extended garbage-time (please pronounce that with the French inflection... gar-BAHGE... as Marv Albert would have) merits this amount of outcry?

George Karl was running up the score. There's no other explanation for the fact that four starters (Anthony, Smith, Marcus Camby and Andre Miller) and a key rotation player (Eduardo Najera) were still in the game with Denver up by 19 and a minute left. Why? Because he doesn't like Isiah Thomas. He wanted to embarrass the Knicks, the way the Knicks embarrassed his buddy Larry Brown.

Nice? No. Good sportsmanship? Hardly. But part of the game.

Thomas apparently responded by telling his team that the old "no layup rule" was in effect; that any Nugget who attempted to dunk should get a hard foul.

Nice? No. Good sportsmanship? Hardly. But part of the game.

Did Collins hit Smith too hard? Yes. Was Collins in the game specifically to foul someone? Odds of that seem pretty good... considering it was his second flagrant foul in two games. Could Collins have committed a hard foul in a less egregious manner? Absolutely. He could have at least pretended to go for the block.

That said... c'mon. Stop the whining. Home run hitters get fastballs in on the hands. Quarterbacks absorb enormous hits in the guise of "blocking" during interception returns. And guys who attempt NBA Jam-style dunks in garbage time get fouled. Blame punk behavior from Nate Robinson and Carmelo Anthony. Don't blame Isiah.

Knicks vs. Nuggets: Lightweight Title Bout

Note to 'Melo... you'd seem much tougher if you didn't sprint the length of the court backwards after landing a sucker-punch on a guy being held back by his coach.

There's nothing that unravels an NBA players' carefully-cultivated tough-guy image faster than his performance in an actual fight, huh? I mean, Carmelo Anthony tries so hard to look "street," obscuring his baby-face with the corn-rows and tattoos and such... but when the time comes for him to actually throw hands, he acts like a kid playing "ring and run" at the neighborhood cat-lady's doorbell.

Today's NBA. Gotta love it.

As for the fight itself... I don't doubt the reports that Isiah Thomas "ordered the hit" on J. R. Smith. At the very least, I'm sure Isiah declared that the Charles Oakley Memorial 'No Layup Rule' would be in effect. It's nice to see Knick history honored by the new regime at least.

And why did George Karl have four of five starters still playing with his team up 19 and one minute left? That's really not hard to figure... Karl is a caporegime in Dean Smith's Carolina mafia. He's already spoken out about how shabbily he thinks the Knicks treated consigliere Larry Brown. Think he had Anthony and Marcus Camby and J. R. Smith in the game specifically to make the Knicks look bad?

I do.

On the plus side, it seems like Isiah has finally found a way to keep Garden crowds from leaving before the final buzzer.