The Knicks are being cautious with the injured left knee of center Eddy Curry.

Curry missed his third straight game on Sunday because of a tender left knee, which caused him to miss all but three games last season.

"It's still swollen, we're not going to rush it, we'll make sure the swelling goes down all the way and evaluate it and see how it looks," Curry told The New York Post.

The Knicks are hoping that because the center is in better shape, his knee will heal more quickly.

Nuggets coach George Karl doesn't think the Knicks are being fair to coach Mike D'Antoni.

New York has a roster littered with players in the final year of their contracts as they look to preserve cap space for this coming summer.

Karl thinks a coach in D'Antoni's situation is being "thrown to the wolves."

"The history of the game that I don't understand, that I don't think has a lot of success is going to the bottom and trying to sign a great free agent," Karl said Friday night. "I think it's a lack of respect to coaches. When you go to the bottom, that coach gets fired 90 percent of the time. You throw that coach to the wolves."

The Knicks aren't going to fire D'Antoni, despite their 3-13 record, but Karl says all the losing will get to the coach.

"Losing will strangle a coach," Karl said. "I don't like the philosophy. I don't think it's been a home run. I think you strikeout as often as you hit home runs with it. I praised Donnie Walsh, but the philosophy of what he's trying to do is difficult to coaching, miserable to coaching. It's the philosophy of personnel people that drives me a little crazy."

Knicks forward Darko Milicic told FanHouse that he will strongly consider playing in Europe next season.

Like fellow 2003 draft class members LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, Milicic can become a free agent after the 2009-10 season.

"The NBA for me is not the way that I want to be," said Milicic. "Looking forward, the stuff that I'm looking for is for me to play and for to me enjoy playing. I think right now the only spot for me is Europe.

"Because growing up and playing basketball, I needed the ball in my hands. I used to create for myself and I used to create for others. I used to play a lot. That's the kind of stuff I'm looking for. And for me to get that in the NBA right now, I don't think so. And I've got to be real."

Milicic is making $7.54 million in the final year of his contract. He has career averages of 5.4 points and 4.0 rebounds.

"I'm not blaming other people," Milicic said of his struggles. "I'm not crying about it. Basketball is just a game. And stuff happens. If I wasn't the second pick, who knows what would have happened? If I was some other pick, you could look back and say what would have happened.

"It's past. It's behind me. I'm going to decide after this year what I'm going to do, stay here or go back to Europe and play. I will decide after this season is over ... I'll go home and clear my mind ... I'll talk to the people that I care about and people who care about me."

While Milicic says he isn't blaming other people, he still doesn't understand why Detroit took him with the second pick in 2003 if they didn't plan to play him.

"I never understand why people are still talking about me as the second pick," Milicic said. "But I never got a chance to play. Why take me as the second pick if you're not going to play me for three years? They never let me get a chance. I still don't get it ... I never asked to be the second pick. I just wanted to play basketball."

Carmelo Anthony was asked by Alan Hahn if he has begun giving any thought to his 2011 free agency, especially if LeBron James decides not to come to New York.

"Noooooo," he said with a laugh. "Not yet. I ain't ready to start talking about that. That's two years from now."

All indicators have Anthony signing an extension with Denver.

"We love him," Anthony said of how the NBA's stars feel about Mike D'Antoni. "Offensive players love him. I can tell you that."

Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni will consider moving guard Nate Robinson into the starting lineup.

Robinson upset D'Antoni last week when he attempted a shot at the wrong basket against the winless Nets.

"We're searching," D'Antoni said after the team fell to 3-12 on Wednesday night. "Everything should be -- and is -- up in the air. We're trying to figure out 6, 7, 8 guys that can bring it every night and have some level of consistency. I'll think about it."

Robinson has averaged 19.6 points in New York's last three games.

Eddy Curry sat out Wednesday's game against the Kings after re-injuring his left knee in the first half of the Knicks' loss to the Lakers Tuesday night. An MRI showed no structural damage, but neither Curry nor the Knicks sounded optimistic that the veteran center would be available for Friday's game in Denver.

"I've still got a little pain. I'm going to give it tonight and tomorrow to calm down and we'll reevaluate it on Friday," Curry said Wednesday. "I want to (play); I definitely want to get out there. But we've got to see. We've got to be smart about it. The MRI was good. Now it's just about controlling the swelling and the pain and getting back out there."

Donnie Walsh disagreed with Ron Artest's assertion on Tuesday that players don't want to play in New York because they are "afraid" of the media and demanding fans.

Walsh did not return phone calls, but in an e-mail the Knicks president wrote, "A lot of players want that atmosphere as well."

Coach Mike D'Antoni said he didn't think the New York spotlight is too bright for a player to perform effectively.

"There's truth in everything," D'Antoni said. "It is a place you're expected to perform. But I don't know how other players view it. They have to answer it themselves. But you guys [the media] aren't that tough."

Lakers forward Ron Artest believes that many of his fellow NBA players are afraid of all that comes along with playing in New York.

The Knicks are expected to chase top-level free agents, like LeBron James, this coming offseason.

"I think people need to stop being scared and go to New York," Artest said. "They're scared. They're so scared of the pressure and the media. I'm like, pardon my language, but I'm like, --- the media and --- everybody that's putting pressure on you. That's how I would take that.

"That's why I went to St. John's," he continued. "People were like, 'Don't go to St. John's because you don't need the distractions.' I was like, 'I'm going here because I want to go here.' If I wanted to play for the Knicks, I would play because I wanted to play and I wouldn't feel no pressure from anybody."

Artest added that he believes LeBron is one player that could handle the pressures of New York.

Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni says he didn't bench guard Nate Robinson for taking a shot at the wrong basket on Saturday.

New York inbounded to Robinson in the backcourt with 0.5 seconds left in the first quarter against New Jersey. Instead of just holding the ball, or heaving a shot at the proper basket, Nate attempted a deep shot at the wrong hoop.

The shot went in, but didn't count because it came just after the buzzer.

D'Antoni yelled at Robinson inbetween quarters.

"When you're 2-9, which we were at the time, I think any distractions are bad," D'Antoni said Sunday. "If our whole focus is not on trying to win and turn this thing around, then it's not right and it's not something we want to do, and it's just one incident and we'll go on and we'll see what happens today."

Robinson ended up playing just six minutes all game.

"That's something that Nate will work on and we talked about it and keep talking about it, but that doesn't affect his playing time," D'Antoni said.

The Knicks have been trying to engage the Rockets in talks regarding Tracy McGrady since the summer.

Multiple sources told Newsday that New York could try to contact Houston again, this time with greater success, in the wake of reported issues between McGrady and the Rockets.

There was a reported confrontation between McGrady and coach Rick Adelman, which both denied, this week regarding the star's return from a knee injury.