"Where is Me-lo?"

The most conspicuous man in the building disappeared during a timeout, hobbled by his sore knee and bruised ego.

"Where is Me-lo?"

They chanted with glee, rubbing it in the face of the beleaguered Knicks, down 30 points in the fourth quarter.

"Where is Me-lo?"

The answer now, really, is: Who cares?

It's over now — the trade and Carmelo Anthony's return to Denver — and now Nuggets fans can focus on the stretch run, which should be a dandy. With Wednesday night's 117-94 rout of New York, the Nuggets won their 10th consecutive game, as they're entrenched in a race to third place.

Denver, still fifth in the Western Conference, is one game back of fourth (Clippers) and 1½ games back of third (Memphis).