Knicksâ€™ Christmas gift: a healthy J.R. Smith?

Knicks shooting guard J.R. Smith had a private workout with the assistant coaches Monday and has a good chance of making his return from a small tear in the plantar fascia in his left foot on Christmas against the Wizards.

One source called it an "80 percent'' chance Smith would return. He has missed seven straight games and the Knicks are 1-6 in his absence. Coach Derek Fisher indicated Sunday it could be at least another week until Smith is back.

With Iman Shumpert out another couple of weeks with a shoulder dislocation, the Knicks have lived and died with the defensive whims of Tim Hardaway Jr. as starting shooting guard.

Smith — not the recently cut Josh Smith — is averaging 10.3 points and shooting 41 percent from the field and figures to be a potential trade chip when healthy, but the Knicks are seeking a major asset in return. There is concern Smith's injury will linger.

Rookie Cleanthony Early said he finally could return to practice Tuesday and won't rule out Christmas Day as his return to the lineup. Early, selected 34th in the draft, had arthroscopic knee surgery Nov. 18. He likely will see a lot of time the more the Knicks fade from legitimate playoff contention.

Carmelo Anthony, in an interview with Andy Roddick of Fox Sports, revealed the best advice Phil Jackson has given him during this disastrous season.

"Just being patient,'' Anthony said. "That's the one thing he always — when I do talk to him — he always says, 'Melo, just be patient.' Sometimes I'm like: 'Phil? Really?' He'd be like, 'No, it's going to work out, just be patient.' One of the reasons I came back [is] I believe in him and his mind-set and what he's done in the past.''

Anthony said he has learned what Jackson meant when he recently said the Knicks have "a loser's mentality.''

"I know him and I know what he was trying to say and what place he was coming from,'' Anthony told Roddick. "He wasn't calling any players losers. He wasn't calling us losers. He was saying when you've experience losing the way we have been, it's easy to have the mentality of not thinking about winning but thinking about how not to lose the game.''

Samuel Dalembert was fined $15,000 by the NBA for an elbow to the face of Toronto's Jonas Valanciunas on Sunday.