Anthony feeling as good as gold after Olympic run

When Carmelo Anthony decided he would compete over the summer for an unprecedented fourth time with the U.S. Olympic basketball team, there were those whose first thoughts bordered on unpatriotic.

“Is he nuts? He’ll be exhausted by Christmas,” was one line of thought.

Anthony and sore knees have been longtime companions. Last season, Anthony missed just 10 games, two for rest, eight for minor ailments. But that was one year after knee surgery limited him to 40 games. Wasn’t the quest for a third gold medal inviting fatigue, asking for trouble?

Turns out, not at all. If anything, Anthony seems stronger.

“I think it helps. We weren’t practicing all day, every day. We weren’t playing every day,” Anthony said Wednesday, one day after his third 35-point output this season in a 118-111 victory over Indiana at the Garden. “The coaching staff did a great job of managing the guys on that team. Practice was short, quick, to the point. The games, we weren’t playing that many.

“I think it actually helps to get guys in that competitive state physically, rather than just working out, training and having to get into that competitive spirit, that competitive nature and wait until training camp to do that.”

Maybe the Knicks should petition for annual Olympics.

“Any time you get a chance to play in the offseason, especially at that level,” Anthony said, “it’s a good opportunity [to] come back into your regular season in shape.”

Anthony became the first to win three U.S. basketball gold medals. He was a leader on that team, a role he has continued with the Knicks.

And his play shows no ill ef- fects. Anthony has had some clunkers — and a shoulder injury that led to resting at Golden State. But he has been sound overall, averaging 22.8 points, shooting .434, including .356 on 3-pointers.

“There are some guys who don’t do anything in the summer and it takes them a while to get going. Carmelo’s gotten off to a good start this year and it’s probably because he had been playing in the summer,” said coach Jeff Hornacek.