By MARK HALE
In the eight games the Knicks have played since acquiring Carmelo Anthony on Feb. 22, both their overall scoring and their overall defense have improved.
The Knicks played 54 games before packaging Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Timofey Mozgov to Denver for Anthony, Chauncey Billups and Anthony Carter.
To be fair, there aren't a ton of conclusions that can be drawn yet, simply because eight games isn't a big sample size (of either the Knicks or their competition).
And, more important, Billups -- one of the team's three best players -- has played in only four due to a thigh injury.
In fact, if you include Jared Jeffries' addition, the Knicks have yet to play a single game since the trade with their entire new corps.
"Once Chauncey gets back, then we can really figure out chemistry on both ends of the court," Amar'e Stoudemire said.
Still, the Knicks -- who are 5-3 since the deal, and have won two straight heading into tonight's game against the Grizzlies in Memphis -- have played four playoff teams since the trade, beating the Heat, Hawks and Hornets while losing to the Magic.
They've also lost twice to woeful Cleveland.
"I think we've shown glimpses of how good we can be," Jeffries said.
Specifically, since the deal, the Knicks offense statistically has been better, which was expected considering the team added a premier scorer in Anthony, who's averaged 25.9 points since arriving.
Not to mention that Billups has averaged 23.3 points in his four games.
And even Stoudemire has seen his production go up -- the Knicks' MVP was averaging 26.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 51 percent shooting pre-trade, and has averaged 27.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and shot 55 percent post-trade.
As a team before the deal, the Knicks were averaging 106.2 points on 46.0 percent shooting. Since the trade, they're averaging 108.6 points on a slightly better 47.2 percent shooting.
And one pleasant development has been the 3-point accuracy. On the day of the trade, coach Mike D'Antoni admitted shooting was an issue. The Knicks, after all, had just dealt Gallinari and Chandler, two of their best deep threats.
Yet since the trade, the Knicks have shot 37.8 percent from three, up from their 36.5 percent beforehand.
"Shawne Williams is probably the lightning rod if he can keep knocking down threes," D'Antoni said.
"But Chauncey's going to knock down threes. Toney [Douglas], he'll knock down threes. Landry Fields is definitely a good shooter. So I don't think it's a concern. I think we've got enough."
Also offensively, the Knicks are getting to the free-throw line more. Pre-trade, they averaged 24.9 attempts per game. They're at 27.6 since landing Anthony and Co.
As for their defense, the Knicks are, surprisingly, appreciably better since the deal. Pre-trade, they were surrendering 105.8 points. Post-trade? They're at 102.5.
However, their defensive field-goal percentage is only slightly better -- 46.9 percent before, 45.9 percent after -- and their defensive 3-point percentage (37.2 before, 36.8 after) is almost identical.
The Knicks do continue to be out-rebounded. Pre-trade, they were getting beaten on the boards by an average of 44.4 to 41.1 each game. Since the deal, it's 41.8 to 39.9.
"I think we're a lot better now than where we were, and we're getting better all the time," D'Antoni said.
"I think our defense is getting a lot more solid, especially since we've added Jared. But still a ways to go.
"I think the potential's there. I think we can be as good as we want to be. I think we can be a top team. Whether we can get it all done this year or not, we'll see. But they've really bought into it. And we're playing pretty well."
mark.hale@nypost.com
Let's go Knicks. That's amare
Seriously, I liked the trade from the start but can't wait to get Chauncey back at the point. I think once he's healthy the Knicks will be playing well above .500 ball. Good test tonight against Memphis.
3/9/2011 9:44 AM
