D'Antoni rarely lacks optimism, but you can understand how a coach who once averaged 58 wins a season with the star-studded Phoenix Suns is driving himself mad with a hodge-podge lineup of players with expiring contracts and not-yet-ripe young players. With 13 losses in the first 16 games of the season, D'Antoni is perpetually wracking his brain for a way to get the most out of this group in this season that is really all about bridging the gap to the 2010 free agency sweepstakes.

And that's what bothers Karl, who has coached more than 1,500 games with five NBA franchises. Though he made sure to praise his fellow North Carolina alumnus Donnie Walsh as "a tremendous leader," Karl criticized the Knicks' salary cap plan by saying it was "a lack of respect toward coaches" because D'Antoni is the one who has to endure the losing and take those L's on his permanent record. D'Antoni is 302-235 for his career, which includes a painful 35-63 mark with the Knicks.

Karl believes that D'Antoni, who took the Knicks' job knowing full well about the 2010 plan, will survive the season, "but if that was 90 percent of the coaches in the league, he'd probably be coaching for the next guy."

Karl even went as far as suggesting that D'Antoni should have been hired as vice president of basketball operations during the two-year waiting period before 2010 "and let him coach practices and give the losses to someone else."

D'Antoni has refused to accept that this season should be considered a throwaway as the team prepares to rebuild through free agency next summer. And he also said he is "with this 110 percent, so it's not something I even think about."

NUGGETS 128, KNICKS 125: Carmelo Anthony scored a career-high 50 points, capped by two free throws with 16.7 seconds left, to give the Nuggets a four-point cushion. After J.R. Smith hit one of two from the line with 4.4 seconds left, the Knicks had a chance to tie, but failed to get off a shot in the final possession. Al Harrington had 41 points off the bench for the Knicks, who had their best shooting game of the season at 48.9 percent from the floor. The Nuggets (12-4) were even better at 53.6 percent, including 10 of 19 from three-point range. The Knicks (3-13) lost their fourth straight game and ended a three-game West Coast swing winless.