Ray Williams, a former Knicks captain who 30 years ago teamed with Michael Ray Richardson to form one of the NBA’s most flamboyant backcourts, died today at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Williams, 58, had been suffering from colon cancer.

A guard with a chiseled physique, Williams was drafted 10th overall by the Knicks in 1977. He came to New York during the bridge years, after the glory championship days of Willis Reed and Bill Bradley, and before Patrick Ewing arrived to lift the franchise.

In the meantime, Williams and Richardson brought sizzle to Madison Garden. Richardson was the taller, wiry slashing player. Williams was built more like a fullback, with well-defined thighs and arms. He entered the league not long before Magic Johnson, and he was of that mold, blurring the lines between positions. He was 6-foot-3 and moved smoothly between the responsibilities of point guard, scoring guard and small even small forward.

– Reported by Craig Wolff of the Newark Star-Ledger

So now Tyson Chandler has a stiff neck too. Wonderful.

The Knicks announced yesterday Chandler missed his second straight game not because of his badly bruised left knee but because of a strained muscle in his neck. However, Chandler limped out of the locker room yesterday and didn’t stop to talk to reporters.

While Carmelo Anthony’s recently drained right knee is not expected to be ready for combat tonight in Utah, Chandler is closer to action. It’s become strange why Anthony even bothered to fly back to Los Angeles.

The Knicks said Chandler’s knee is virtually healed and the Knicks center has played through a sore neck earlier this season. Chandler said Wednesday night after the Denver game that he is very willing to play hurt, especially with the Knicks on the verge of an embarrassing 0-5 West Coast trip that will be hard to live down.

– Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

Knicks forward Kenyon Martin played for the Clippers last season, but it’s clear the breakup between the two sides was a bit messy and Martin still holds some bitterness.

When asked about the Clippers, Martin quickly snapped: “I don’t care what they do, to be honest with you. I hope they lose every game.”

After a few more game-related questions, the topic of the Clippers’ fast breaking and dunking style arose, and Martin said, “They can’t do it in the playoffs, so it doesn’t matter. Regular season, it’s all up-and-down. We know how the game goes in the regular season.”

Finally, I asked him why there was bad blood between him and the Clippers and he simply said, “Next question.”

– Reported by Jovan Buha, special to ESPN New York

The Knicks aren’t that desperate yet, but will be one of the teams monitoring the progress of mercurial point guard Delonte West, expected to make his D-League debut tonight when the Texas Legends host the Santa Cruz Warriors.

West is a super talent and super headache, but, at 29, a relative pup by Knicks standards. He hasn’t played all season but was effective last year with Dallas. The Knicks haven’t been thrilled with their point-guard play since Christmas, with Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd falling back to Earth, Iman Shumpert not being a reliable scorer and playmaking rookie Pablo Prigioni not enough of an offensive threat.

The Knicks don’t have a roster spot and rehabbing Rasheed Wallace is on the West Coast trip for “moral support,’’ coach Mike Woodson said. Woodson acknowledged he will sit down with general manager Glen Grunwald after the trip to explore options. Wallace would have to be cut to open a roster spot.

– Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

The banged-up New York Knicks need all the healthy bodies they can get. Veteran forward Kenyon Martin qualifies.

Knicks Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations and General Manager Glen Grunwald announced today that the team has signed Martin for the remainder of the season, following two consecutive 10-day contracts originally signed on Feb. 23.

Martin, 6-9, 230-pounds, is averaging 5.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.17 steals over 18.9 minutes in six games.

Jack Curran, who spent more than a half century at Archbishop Molloy High School and was among the nation’s winningest prep coaches in basketball and baseball, has died. He was 83.

His death was confirmed Thursday by the Queens school. The family has yet to release further information, the school said.

Curran had been weakened by lung and kidney problems. He broke his kneecap last month when he slipped on ice while on his way to church. The mishap did not prevent him from attending church that day.

Curran coached 55 years at the school. In 1958, he became the basketball coach at what was then St. Ann’s Academy. He succeeded Lou Carnesecca, who left to coach St. John’s.

NBA players Brian Winters, Kevin Joyce, Kenny Smith and Kenny Anderson played under Curran at Archbishop Malloy. Curran was the winningest coach in New York state, with 972 victories in basketball and 1,708 in baseball.

– Reported by the Associated Press

New York Knicks Legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing has wanted to work for the team — as a head or at least assistant coach — for quite some time now.

Well, this is something, at least.

Ewing will join MSG Network’s postgame coverage of the Knicks on Wednesday, March 20 when the team faces the Orlando Magic and on Sunday, March 31 when the Knicks take on the Boston Celtics. Both games are at Madison Square Garden and start at 7:30 p.m.

Immediately following each game, the 11-time NBA All-Star will appear on MSG’s Knicks postgame coverage, including the “Ford Knicks Postgame Show” and “Knicks Extra,” with host Al Trautwig and analyst Alan Hahn from the Geico MSG Studios.

“It’s always good to be back at The Garden,” said Ewing. “The Garden is home, New York is home, and the fans always appreciated what I brought to the table when I played. I’m really looking forward to working with MSG, it will be a great learning experience for me, and I’m excited to be on the other side of the mic.”

“With Patrick Ewing in our studio and Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier in the Arena, we will arguably have two of the greatest Knicks of all-time on our game coverage for these two games,” said Daniel Ronayne, executive vice president and general manager, MSG Networks. “Patrick’s knowledge of the team and New York basketball will give viewers a unique perspective on the results of both games.”

The Knicks haven’t won a playoff series since 2001, but the Garden’s $800 million, three-year transformation continues to give owner James Dolan cause to jack up season-ticket prices.

In a press release, the Knicks announced season-ticket prices will go up, on average, 6.4 percent for next season. The ticket increase is related to the final stage of the three-year transformation being completed in time for next season.

Ticket prices for Rangers game will increase by four percent.

– Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

Mike Woodson hinted that the club could make a roster to move to add another player but in a strange twist the Knicks head coach indicated that releasing injured Rasheed Wallace isn’t under consideration.

The Knicks have 13 available players with Wallace and Amar’e Stoudemire sidelined for the remainder of the regular season. In order to sign a player, the Knicks would have to create a roster spot by cutting a player. Wallace, who had foot surgery last month, is the most logical candidate since it is unlikely he will play again this season. In fact, he may be forced back into retirement.

But when Woodson was asked if he has reconsidering waiving Wallace, a player he convinced to come out of two-year retirement, the head coach said: “I don’t know where that came from. That was you guys (in the media). I never made that statement about waiving Rasheed. Rasheed still has a chance to bounce back as well but again as we go up this road we’ve just got to wait and see.

– Reported by the New York Daily News

Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire continues to suffer knee injuries

Amar’e Stoudemire needs surgery and will miss the next six weeks of the Knicks’ season. The killer blow was announced by the team just prior to Saturday’s game against the Jazz. Stoudemire will have a right knee debridement sometime this week.

Stoudemire had been having some soreness in the knee, and missed the team’s shootaround Saturday morning. He elected to have an MRI later in the day, which revealed that he needed surgery.

“I feel for Amar’e, because again he’s put a lot of work in this summer, to get back out on the court, with what he went through at the beginning of camp,” head coach Mike Woodson said. “And now he’s got to go back in again. I feel for the young man because he puts so much time and hard work in. But you know we got to go on.”

With the timetable suggested by the team, Stoudemire will presumably miss the rest of the regular season and into part of the playoffs.

– Reported by Seth Walder of the New York Daily News

InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner says: I feel awful for Stoudemire, who keeps himself in great shape and has desperately tried to stay healthy.

Kevin Durant had 34 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 1:38 left, and the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled out a 95-94 victory over the New York Knicks on Thursday night.

Russell Westbrook struggled over the final three quarters but finished with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists in the Thunder’s first trip to New York since Dec. 22, 2010. Durant also had eight boards and six assists.

Oklahoma City posted its third straight win, fighting off a spirited effort by a Knicks team missing Carmelo Anthony. The All-Star forward missed his second straight game with what the Knicks said is a stiff and sore right knee.

J.R. Smith scored a season-high 36 points for New York, but missed a turnaround jumper that would have won it as time ran out.

Neither team led by more than two points over the final 10 1/2 minutes. Durant scored 12 in the final period while Westbrook was shut out, hitting a pair from the line with 1:38 to play that made it 95-94…

Anthony was hurt Monday in Cleveland, falling to the court without contact as he tried to catch a pass. Coach Mike Woodson said he is day to day and doesn’t believe the injury is serious, but the Knicks said the same about Jeremy Lin last season and others in recent years, so their fans won’t relax until they see Anthony back on the floor…

Raymond Felton and Amare Stoudemire each had 16 points for the Knicks, who were playing their fourth game in five nights against the rested and much more athletic Thunder…

Oklahoma City G Ronnie Brewer didn’t play. Brewer was a starter for the Knicks to begin the season, but eventually lost his place in the rotation entirely after a lengthy slump and was dealt to the Thunder for a second-round pick at the trade deadline.

– Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Anthony did not play for the second straight game because of fluid on his knee. “I’m not overly concerned,” Woodson said. “He’s day-to-day and eventually he’ll be back on the floor playing.” Woodson said he wanted to get Anthony back down to about 34-35 minutes per game instead of close to 40. Anthony sat out Wednesday’s 87-77 win in Detroit after falling to the floor during Monday’s win in Cleveland; he initially said he received treatment on the knee during halftime of Sunday’s loss to the Miami Heat. The Knicks are now 4-5 this year without Anthony, the NBA’s second-leading scorer (28.2)… Stoudemire remains on a 30-minute limit, but Woodson said that could change going forward. “Maybe his minutes will increase as we get closer to the playoffs or get in a playoff series,” said Woodson, adding that he wanted to protect Stoudemire until then.

– Reported by Adam Zagoria of NBA.com

He admittedly isn’t the player he was last season when he ranked seventh in the NBA in steals, made the All-Rookie first team and was the only first-year player to receive Defensive Player of the Year votes.

The explosiveness isn’t there. The lateral quickness isn’t the same. Things the athletic Shumpert would do easily, like finishing at the rim, aren’t happening nearly as much.

“It [ticks] me off,” he said.

In 20 games, Shumpert is averaging 4.7 points, shooting 30.8 percent from the field, 34 percent from three-point range and 64.7 percent from the foul line, and collecting 0.90 steals a game.

He’s playing fewer minutes and doesn’t have the ball as much. Most of his stats are markedly down from last year, when Shumpert averaged 9.5 points, converted 40.1 percent of his shots, 30.6 percent from three-point range and 79.8 percent from the line and averaged 1.71 steals.

– Reported by Al Iannazzone of New York Newsday

“Once a Knick, Always a Knick” is more than just a marketing slogan stitched inside the uniforms of each player who wears orange and blue.

For Ray Williams, it is a matter of life and death.

The ailing former Knicks guard, who has fallen on hard times, was transported by the Knicks last week from Florida to New York to receive treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in Manhattan for an undisclosed illness. Madison Square Garden Chairman James Dolan paid for the medical plane that allowed Williams, 58, to receive world-class care and to be near his mother.

A product of Mount Vernon, Williams played 10 seasons with six teams, including two tours of duty with both the Knicks and Nets. The Knicks drafted Williams, who played one season with current Knicks coach Mike Woodson, with the 10th pick of the 1977 draft.

– Reported by Frank Isola of the New York Daily News

Veteran forward Kenyon Martin has barely played for the Knicks during his initial 10-day deal, but the team wants him to stick around a bit longer.

New York Knicks Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations and General Manager Glen Grunwald announced today that the team has signed Martin to a second consecutive 10-day contract.

Martin, 6-9, 230-pounds, has appeared in one game, playing five minutes.

The 36-21 Knicks are currently third in the Eastern conference.

Carmelo Anthony tripped, stumbled and fell.

The New York Knicks picked themselves up and won without him.

Amare Stoudemire scored 22 points, J.R. Smith added 18 and the Knicks overcame a 22-point deficit and the loss of Anthony, their All-Star forward who went out with a knee injury in the first half, to beat the Cavaliers 102-97 on Monday night and end a 10-game losing streak in Cleveland.

Steve Novak made three of New York’s seven 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and added 15 points as the Knicks, sparked by their second unit, shook off a tough home loss on Sunday, when they blew a 16-point lead to Miami…

Kyrie Irving scored 22 points in his first game back after missing Cleveland’s past three with a hyperextended right knee. Irving added six assists and five rebounds in 36 minutes…

The Knicks were down by 22 and looking pathetic when Anthony caught a pass from Kidd near midcourt, tripped over his own feet and hit the deck. He stayed on his back for several seconds, got up and without talking to New York’s trainers headed directly to the locker room. Anthony didn’t appear to be injured and seemed to be more embarrassed than anything.

With Anthony out and icing his knee, the Knicks went on a 17-4 run and closed within 61-49 at halftime - not bad, considering how poorly they had played…

Knicks C Marcus Camby played for the first time since Jan. 10. He had been sidelined with plantar fasciitis.

– Reported by Tom Withers of the Associated Press

Mike Woodson didn’t like a lot of things about the New York Knicks’ 99-93 loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday.

He had a problem with his team’s second-half turnovers, third-quarter intensity and poor execution down the stretch.

But J.R. Smith’s shot selection may have bothered Woodson the most.

Smith essentially shot the Knicks in the foot on Sunday by going just 2-for-11 in the second half. On the afternoon, Smith missed 13 of 18 shots, including 11 of his 14 3-point attempts.

“You can’t take 18 shots and 14 shots are 3s. That’s a bit much,” Woodson said. “He’s got to mix it up.”

– Reported by Ian Begley of ESPN New York

LeBron James had 29 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, and Miami tied a franchise record with its 14th straight victory, rallying for a 99-93 victory at New York on Sunday.

”We feel like this is one of our better wins of the season, even under the circumstances that we went through tonight, a little adversity being down double digits,” James said.

Dwyane Wade added 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Heat, who had to overcome a 16-point deficit to beat the Knicks for the first time in three tries this season. Chris Bosh bounced back from a dismal first half to finish with 16 points and Shane Battier hit all four 3-point attempts to score 12.

The Heat won their sixth straight on the road by controlling the final minutes against a team that had a pair of 20-point victories over them this season and looked ready to run them out of the building again…

Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points for the Knicks, who had won three in a row. Jason Kidd emerged from a lengthy slump to finish with 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists. J.R. Smith had 13 points and 12 rebounds, but shot 5 of 18 from the field…

The Heat matched their 14 straight wins during the 2004-05 season and finally beat one of their closest pursuers in the Eastern Conference after dropping their first four against the Knicks and Indiana Pacers…

[Jason] Kidd missed his 14 3-point attempts in the last three games and had been in a 7-for-49 slump behind the arc since Feb. 1, finally losing his starting job before Friday’s victory at Washington.

But he made a 3 early in the second quarter, then hit three more in the period. The Knicks rattled off eight points in a row to make it 59-43, their only concern coming when Anthony went to the locker room before the half ended with what the team said was pain in his ribs. He was back when the second half started and said the injury didn’t bother him.

– Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press

Jason Kidd’s days as a starter may be over.

Mike Woodson removed the struggling veteran from the starting lineup prior to last night’s 96-88 victory over the Washington Wizards and made Kidd the back-up point guard, the role Kidd expected to play when he signed a three year contract last July.

Woodson did not say the move is permanent but considering that Kidd had scored a total of 30 points in 11 games last month, the Knicks can’t survive without getting more production from the shooting guard position.

“I didn’t come in this league as a scorer,” Kidd joked, “and it doesn’t’ look like I’m going to leave as a scorer.”

– Reported by Frank Isola of the New York Daily News

Rasheed Wallace’s surgery in which a screw was inserted into his left foot Thursday at the Hospital for Special Surgery was done with his goal of returning sometime during the playoffs.

Wallace could have just called it a career, placed a cast on the foot for 12 weeks and been done with basketball. According to a source, he contemplated that possibility the last several days.

The Knicks, however, announced an eight-week timetable that could put him back on the court in the middle of the first round. But one leading medical expert said Wallace will not be at 100 percent healed after just eight weeks from surgery to repair a Jones fracture of his fifth metatarsal.

Dr. Anish Kadakia, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Northwestern University who specializes in Jones fractures, told The Post Wallace could be running in six weeks. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t be 100 percent for 12 weeks.

– Reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post

Stephen Curry rose for another jumper, and by then even the Knicks probably figured it would go in.

Curry had hardly missed in a scintillating second half of the NBA’s most electric performance this season, the crowd cheering even before the ball left his hands.

This time, Raymond Felton jumped with him, making the play New York needed to finally withstand Curry.

Felton’s blocked shot led to J.R. Smith’s tiebreaking basket with 1:10 left, and the Knicks overcame Curry’s NBA season-high 54 points to beat the Golden State Warriors 109-105 on Wednesday night.

Curry was 18 of 28 from the field, finishing one shy of the NBA record with 11 3-pointers in 13 attempts, in a performance that had the crowd hanging on his every shot. But the Knicks and Felton finally stopped him with 1:28 to play and the score tied at 105…

Carmelo Anthony followed Smith’s basket with another one and the Knicks hung on to spoil former Knicks star and Warriors coach Mark Jackson’s homecoming.

Anthony finished with 35 points and Smith had 26…

Playing all 48 minutes, Curry finished with seven assists and six rebounds while passing his previous career best of 42 points, and Kevin Durant’s 52-point performance that had been the best in the NBA this season.

”I felt good all night. Obviously played the whole game, so was just trying to keep my legs underneath me on the offensive end, and you know, just stick to the game on the defensive end,” Curry said. ”Once I started seeing that 3-ball go down in transition, all sorts of spots on the floor, I knew it was going to be a good night.”

But he had little help without All-Star forward David Lee, who was suspended one game for his role in an altercation Tuesday night in Indiana.

Tyson Chandler had 16 points and a career-best 28 rebounds for the Knicks, who won their second straight after a season-high, four-game losing streak. Amare Stoudemire had 14 points and Anthony added eight assists on the day the Knicks learned they could be without reserve forward Rasheed Wallace for the rest of the season because he needs surgery to repair a broken bone in his left foot.

– Reported by Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press