If the New York Knicks need Carmelo Anthony waiting outside the Celtics bus for Kevin Garnett to show up to prove they belong in title talk, then they have no shot of beating the Celtics when it really matters -- the playoffs.

What we saw Monday night in New York was a first-place Knicks team that couldn’t take advantage of a .500 Celtics team without its most dynamic player.

What we saw Monday night was a Knicks team finding fool’s gold from three-point range (10-for-17) in the first half as the Celtics patiently waited to apply great defense and wear down New York in the second half.

And what we saw Monday night was a Knicks team that again proved it wasn’t ready for prime time by melting down in the second half and its leader losing his cool against Boston’s heart and soul.

What we saw was a Knicks team that somehow lost to the Celtics, 102-96, and had its best player lose his cool. Instead of directing his frustration at his own team’s lack of discipline and execution, he decided to blame it all on KG’s trash-talking on the court.

To refresh, the Celtics wiped out a three-point halftime deficit and led, 94-91, with less than three minutes left. Garnett and Anthony got into a verbal altercation and each picked up a technical. That happens all the time.

Anthony joined the multitudes of NBA players past and present annoyed by Garnett on the court. As Anthony made his way to the bench, he had some choice words for Boston’s 36-year-old warrior. That was all fine and good and that seemed to be the end of it, except for the throwaway line that Anthony reportedly fired KG's way: "I'll see you after the game." 

Garnett looked at the altercation on the court one way, and Anthony another.

“Listen, heat of the battle, man, guys throw back and forth,” Garnett told reporters afterward. “He's trying to get his team to go; I'm trying to get my team to go. Both teams are colliding. Not to mention that it's the Knicks and the Celtics. Just what it is.”

Garnett was giving a lot more credit to Anthony than a lot of NBA fans or the league office will.

Anthony chose not to speak to reporters but instead, keeping true to his alleged words, staked out the Celtics locker room and then chose to make his way to the Celtics bus.

Fortunately for everyone, the Knicks and coach Mike Woodson got wind of this, alerted Madison Square Garden security and police and had them waiting so that the situation would not escalate.

And you thought Rajon Rondo was troublesome for the Celtics? All Rondo did was blow off a hearing with the league office after what may or may not have been contact with official Rodney Mott on Saturday night in Atlanta. This is far more serious.

Like this is any different than any other Celtics game of the past five seasons? Please, this is what the Celtics with KG and Rajon Rondo do. They stare you down, get inside your head and try to make you crack. The Knicks were frustrated that they shot 41 percent from the floor and allowed the Celtics to shoot 53 percent. They were frustrated that Jason Terry shot just 1-for-7 from the field in Rondo’s absence but that they still couldn’t find a way to stop Boston’s offense in the second half.

The tougher teams withstand this, realize it for what it is and go about their business. The weak teams crumble. The Knicks, still sitting atop the division at 23-11, second to only Miami in the East, looked like a mentally weak team.

Yes, KG is an instigator, but if you’re Carmelo Anthony and you don’t know Garnett’s antics by now, you never will.

The Knicks fans will defend Anthony by saying his actions on the court showed courage and proof the Knicks aren’t about to back down. That’s fine, completely understandable and commendable.

What’s not any of those qualities is what Anthony did afterward. You can’t take the game from the court to the locker room and the team bus. That’s thuggery in the eyes of the NBA, and it won’t be tolerated.

There was a lot of talk about Dan Shaughnessy calling the Houston Texans frauds coming into this weekend’s showdown with the Patriots. But what we saw Monday night in New York was a much better example.

Nothing says fraud more than waiting outside your opponent’s locker room and bus after they just schooled you on the court.