"Carmelo Anthony says it's better to be smart than sorry.

And so even though he ran some at Knicks practice Tuesday, Anthony cautioned about rushing back on his sore left ankle for Wednesday's game against the Nets at the Garden and said he'll probably be a game-time decision.

"The best thing for me, the thing for the team, the best thing for this organization is to have me healthy at this point," said Anthony, who took a hard fall against the Lakers last week, spraining his ankle and banging up his knee and hip. "I don't play through pain, I don't play through injuries, I don't play with injuries.

"Right now it's about being smart. If it was late in the season, I'd probably be singing a different tune. But right now, it's still early in the season.""