KNICK NOTES

LOS ANGELES – Knicks GM Scott Layden gave Jeff Van Gundy a rousing vote of confidence before the club’s disgraceful 99-86 loss to the Clippers yesterday. Question is, is anyone giving Layden a similar pat on the back?

Layden, widely criticized for not upgrading the club’s undersized frontcourt, went out of his way to praise Van Gundy at every turn and sounded as if he was presiding over a team with a winning record.

“I’m still very positive about the group for several reasons,” Layden said. “The thing is, we’re very well coached and it’s good to know when we struggle or go through tough times, you are well coached.”

Layden said the club was “well coached” four times during the interview. He also defended himself. Layden, amidst criticism he blew the draft, cracked, “Had we drafted Loren Woods and Boumtje Boumtje, we still would’ve gotten beaten by 20 points in New Jersey the other night.”

Layden has been widely knocked for drafting Kansas center Eric Chenowith with the 43rd pick in stead of Woods. Chenowith was cut before training camp.

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Kurt Thomas, 0-for-7 in the first half, sprained his left ankle in the third quarter, landing awkwardly on Jeff McInnis’ foot in the third. Though he returned, he was in terrible pain afterward, hobbling around, bandaged, with an electric stimulator attached. “It hurts like hell now, we’ll see in the morning,” said Thomas, who could undergo X-rays. Thomas, who admitted he is “hurting the team” with his wayward shot, missed five games last season with a sprain of the same ankle. He may have to miss the rest of the trip against supersized Golden State tomorrow and Phoenix Wednesday. That could mean the return of Felton Spencer, whose brief cameo yesterday resulted in Clippers’ Elton Brand driving past him on the baseline for a layup.

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Van Gundy wondered before the game why Clippers’ Quentin Richardson tapped his head twice after making a basket. Richardson hasn’t disclosed the reason but VG saw way too much of it yesterday as he scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth. He tapped his head four times after his game-sealing breakaway reverse dunk midway through the fourth.