Anthony scored 40 points and the Knicks got key contributions from J.R. Smith and Raymond Felton during a 19-5 fourth-quarter run that sparked New York to its 10th straight victory, 95-82 over Atlanta on Wednesday night.

“Melo is smart enough to know that if he’s doubled, he’ll sacrifice the ball,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. “And we’ve got enough shooters around him that are making big shots. That opens it up for him even more. And when he gets going like he did tonight, they’re not going to leave him alone very often.”

Anthony, who scored 50 in his last game at Miami, scored 26 in the first half. He commanded more defensive attention in the second half, which left opportunities for Smith, who scored 19, and Felton, who scored 14. Felton’s quickness to the basket resulted in three straight scores during a 12-2 streak that turned a tie game into an 84-74 Knicks lead that was never threatened.

“A lot of (Anthony’s) points came off the bounce, with just two or three dribbles, and then a quick pull-up,” Woodson said. “When he got doubled, he got the ball out. It was kind of nice to play off him tonight.”

Atlanta forward Al Horford admitted, “He hit a lot of tough shots. I think he was very comfortable out there. We probably should have tried to pressure him more.”

Anthony made 17 of 27 from the field and was 5 for 6 at the line. He also had five rebounds and three assists, with only one turnover.

“The rhythm was there and I wanted to see if I still had it going,” Anthony said. “It was just one of those nights once again. I feel like when I have the opportunity, I just want to take my time and take it when I’m open and then find the open man when I’m doubled.”

The game was tied at 72 with 9:48 left when New York took control. The Knicks outscored the Hawks 23-10 the rest of the way, as Felton scored 10 in the final period.

“I think our coverages were bad,” Hawks guard Jeff Teague said. “I should have backed up a little bit on Raymond Felton and let him shoot a contested shot. But I got up a little bit and he used his speed to get by me.”

The win puts New York in sole possession of second place in the Eastern Conference.

“This team is playing for something,” Woodson said. “We know every game counts. We’ve had our ups and downs because of injuries, but we’ve just got to finish this regular season out.”

Atlanta lost the opportunity to move into a tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference and wasted a 25-point effort by Kyle Korver, who came up two points short of his season high.

“They were switching a lot of things trying to take away Josh (Smith) and Al and I was able to get some looks in the first half,” Korver said. “I tried to knock them down.”

Korver moved into third place on the all-time list for consecutive games with a 3-point basket. Korver passed Reggie Miller at 10:54 in the first quarter when he made a 3-pointer from the right side. He’s now connected for a trey in 69 straight games. Korver is still a long away from catching Dana Barros (89 consecutive games), but is within distance of Dennis Scott (78) and Michael Adams (79).

“We played a very hot basketball team,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “Particularly Carmelo, who’s playing at a very high level right now, shooting the ball extremely, extremely well. I thought there were times we defended him well. He still made shots.”

Game notes

Atlanta forward John Jenkins missed his third game since suffering a concussion against Boston. … Atlanta’s Devin Harris was not available because of foot injury. He had rehab treatment on Wednesday. … The Syracuse men’s basketball team attended the game. The team is in town to compete in the NCAA Final Four. … Also at courtside was comedian Conan O’Brien.

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“I’m not criticizing anybody, but it’s part of the rules that’s just not great,” D’Antoni said before the Lakers played the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. “We’re an entertainment business. That’s not entertaining for anybody.”

The Lakers beat the Magic 106-97 with Howard tying his own all-time NBA record for free throw attempts in a game, going 25 of 39 from the line.

After the game, D’Antoni said Orlando coach Jacque Vaughn’s tactic created an inferior product for the paying customers in the seats.

“I hate it for the fans,” D’Antoni said.”They can come to practice for free and watch them shoot 40-50 foul shots. They don’t even have to pay for tickets. I’ll invite them all.”

It wasn’t the first time Vaughn used the game plan. He employed it when the Magic beat the Lakers 113-103 at Staples Center on Dec. 2, and Howard went 9 of 21 from the line.

“You try to win, I understand that, coaches got to do what they do, but it might be something that you can look at down the road,” D’Antoni said. “Especially [because] I’ve got non-shooters, I’d vote for [banning] it. If I had shooters, I wouldn’t vote for it. That’s how we work as coaches.”

Howard said he’s no big fan of the strategy but understands why it’s used.

“It is boring, it’s not a fun way to play and it’s not fun for the fans to watch, but for the other team they’re trying to win,” Howard said Wednesday night. “We can’t get upset with it. I don’t want to just have to take the ball out as soon as I step inbounds, they foul me. That’s not fun, but guys will do what they got to do to win.”

Howard believes it’s not the way the game was intended to be played.

“Nobody wants to play where it’s just fouls repeatedly, but like I said, that’s another team’s strategy,” Howard said. “I don’t think we’ll ever do that here on our team.”

The strategy is nothing new to D’Antoni. San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich used it against Shaquille O’Neal when he was the center on D’Antoni’s Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 2008 playoffs.

“Shaq would try to run through people, which is kind of different,” D’Antoni said. “He punished the guy. I felt sorry for the guy who had to go give the foul because he tried to hunt him down and kill him.”

The NBA Coach of the Year in 2004-05 doesn’t feel right having his teams play that way.

“I’ve tried it; it’s just kind of like I don’t like it,” D’Antoni said. “If I can’t beat them, I don’t want to [do that]. But, I understand why you would do it.”

The NBA’s 10-man competition committee would have to review D’Antoni’s claim in order for the league to make a change to the rules to prevent intentional foul situations from continuing in the future. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak is one of four GMs on the committee along with two owners, three head coaches and one representative from the National Basketball Players Association.

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