We showed up looking for both sides to weigh in today before the rematch.

Denver is coming back to MSG tomorrow for the first time since Mardy Collins and J.R. Smith went nose to nose following a hard foul in a blowout game. Nate Robinson and Carmelo Anthony took it from there. And when the dust settled, a total of seven players were suspended and both organizations were fined $500,000.

I believe there was some name calling on the part of Nuggets coach George Karl.

Naturally, the brawl was the hot topic. Naturally, the questions were not exactly well received by Knicks coach Isiah Thomas or the players involved.

The quote of the day came from Eddy Curry.

“I was on the bench with my eyes closed,” he said. “I didn’t see nothing.”

How can you not laugh?

It was impossible to get a straight answer from Thomas on the subject. He made several attempts to shift the focus back to basketball, then politely ended the interview.

Here’s a sample:

Q: Any thoughts on facing the Nuggets in light of what happened last season?

IT: “They’re a good team, and they have great talent. Their bigs are just as good as any bigs playing in terms of Camby, Nene and Martin. And then you go over to the small forward position with Melo, who’s been a star from Day 1 since he got into the league. And Iverson is a former MVP, so they’re loaded and we definitely have our work cut out for us.”

Q: Was the fight a low point?

IT: “Again, we’re only concerned about what takes place tomorrow. Everyone’s looking forward to playing a good basketball game.”

Q: If you pass George Karl in the hallway tomorrow, how will you react?

IT: “I’ll be cordial just as I am with anyone.”

Q: Was the fight a dark moment for the franchise?

IT: “Again, I’m only concerned, and my focus is tomorrow night, making sure that my team is ready to play, that we’re prepared to play because they’re very good. They have a lot of weapons. They can score the basketball. They can rebound the basketball. They have great players and that’s what my focus and concentration is at.”

For the record, we’re not beating a dead horse.

The fight was ugly and left the league with another black eye, but in many respects the Knicks came together afterward. I really believe it forced a new approach, which made them better for a time, at least until the injuries began to pile up.

And it certainly helped Nate Robinson grow up faster.

Carmelo Anthony was asked to address the situation on Sunday after Denver lost in New Orleans.

“They’ve got enough stuff going on up there to be worrying about what happened 11 months ago,” he said.

Zing.

Robinson and Mardy Collins would both like to forget the whole incident.

“It already is (in the past) to us,” Collins said. “It’s in the past. We’re just going out and playing basketball.
We’re not thinking about that.”

Would he handle the situation differently, though.

“I would’ve done the same thing,” Collins said. “Just hopefully it wouldn’t escalate that far.”

Robinson might not be able to play because he’s nursing a sore left hamstring, which he suffered early in the fourth quarter on Sunday. He did not participate in contact drills today at practice.

“Everybody knows we already apologized for what happened, to the kids and fans, to the NBA,” Robinson said. “Everybody knows what happened, but of course everybody’s going to elaborate on it and try to make it bigger than what it is. We’re just trying to win.”