But Stern was clearly annoyed by remarks from Thomas and the Knicks that the Nuggets were somehow responsible because they kept four starters on the floor late in the blowout.

The brawl began when Collins prevented Smith from an easy basket by grabbing him around the neck and taking him to the floor.

Smith got up and immediately started jawing with Collins, and Robinson jumped in to pull Smith away. Anthony shoved Robinson, and Robinson and Smith then tumbled into the front row while fighting.

Just as things appeared to be calming down, Anthony threw a hard punch that floored Collins. Jeffries sprinted from the baseline toward halfcourt in an effort to get at Anthony, but was tackled by a Denver player.

By the time security finally contained Smith, the players were nearly at the opposite end of the court from where things started.

In Denver, Karl was blunt with his criticism of Thomas.

“I think his actions after the game were despicable. He made a bad situation worse. I’ll swear on my children’s life that I never thought about running up the score. I wanted to get a big win on the road.

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“My team has had trouble holding leads at the end of games,” he added. “I didn’t want the score to get under 10 points because if it would’ve gotten under 10 points it would’ve had a negative feeling on my team.”

The Nuggets saw a 25-point, first-half lead dwindle to just two points in the fourth quarter Monday night, but held on to beat the Washington Wizards 117-108 without its suspended players.

Thomas declined comment on Karl’s remarks. His undermanned Knicks upset the Utah Jazz in overtime Monday night, 97-96, on a layup by Stephon Marbury just before the buzzer.

“We are in concurrence with whatever the league has offered us, and whatever the commissioner said we support and will abide by,” Thomas said.

Karl has bigger problems now. He’ll be without Anthony until the Nuggets’ game at Houston on Jan. 20, and Smith will be gone until Jan. 8. That duo combines for more than 48 points a game.

“It’s going to be tough,” said Nuggets center Marcus Camby, one of the five players ejected who wasn’t suspended. “It’s already tough being in the Western Conference, and missing guys like J.R. and Carmelo is going to make it even worse.”

Anthony’s conduct represents a big blow to the All-Star player, team and league. He starred as a captain on the U.S. team at the world championships this summer, and had been getting more marketing opportunities as one of the league’s brightest young stars.

Stern took none of that into account when issuing his decision.

“We judged him on his actions on the court, period,” Stern said. “And they deserved a harsh penalty.”

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