Carmelo-less Knicks demolished by short-handed Heat

Life without Carmelo Anthony was as miserable as expected. The Knicks were booed in the final minute after getting pounded by the Chris Bosh-less Heat, 111-84, at the Garden in the first game back from the All-Star break.

The Knicks lost their sixth straight game to move to a league-worst 10-44 with 28 games left. There is wonder if the Knicks, with their current roster that no longer features the out-for-the-season Anthony and the waived Amar'e Stoudemire, now with the Mavericks, will win another game.

The Heat were depleted, with Bosh perhaps out for the season after suffering what could be a pulmonary embolism and new point guard acquisition Goran Dragic still having to take his physical.

Instead, it was rookie point guard Shabazz Napier picking up where he left off last March with Connecticut. A hero in last year's NCAA regional at the Garden on the way to the national championship, Napier scored a team-high 18 points with seven rebounds and six assists for the Heat, who had eight players in double figures with just nine available players.

In one illustrative moment in the fourth quarter, the ball caromed to Napier off a mad scramble and he flung in a 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer to give Miami a 104-76 lead. All five starters had double-figures for Miami with Luol Deng, Udonis Haslem and Mario Chalmers each scoring 13 points.

The ragtag Knicks were led by Langston Galloway's 19 points. Tim Hardaway Jr. finished with 17 points but was a minus-12. As the Heat kept extending the advantage in the final quarter, the mumbling and grumbling at the Garden grew louder.

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John Malone building assets to create a media empire

HOLLYWOOD — Darth Vader is back — and he looks to be building the Death Star.

John Malone, whose byzantine cable-TV deals earned him the moniker, has Hollywood buzzing about a new plot to build Starz and his other farflung assets into a powerful media empire.

After years of buying cable operators and other companies that distribute content, Malone is now targeting companies that own or produce programming.

The billionaire investor set tongues wagging last week when he bought a stake in Lionsgate, the force behind "The Hunger Games" film franchise and AMC's hit "Mad Men."

The stock-swap deal gives the Liberty Media chairman, who is also Starz' largest shareholder, a seat on the board of the independent studio and a 3.4 percent ownership interest. In exchange, Lionsgate gets a 4.5 percent stake in Starz.

"This has to be about content people want, and Lionsgate has a lot of that," said one studio executive.

Aligning Starz with Lionsgate makes sense in a new streaming world where consumers can pick which content to watch from an array of Internet-delivered services instead of a traditional pay-TV bundle.

In short, Malone envisions a future where consumers will have "random access" to hit shows online as an alternative to the so-called multichannel universe.

The pact with Lionsgate is widely seen as a precursor to a more transformative deal that could align the studio with other companies in Malone's orbit.

"Lionsgate could be part of a broader content play," said one source.

Malone could use Lionsgate's movies and TV programming as a global content springboard to feed his pay-TV assets, including cable operator Charter Communications and Virgin Media in the UK.

Lionsgate's largest shareholder, Mark Rachesky, with a 37 percent stake, would have to be on board with such an idea.

Rachesky is keen on partnering with Malone and seeing where it could go, according to sources.

Malone has said Starz would be better off as part of a bigger media company, and he has searched for a buyer since he split it off from Liberty Media in 2013.

Lionsgate was among the potential buyers for Starz. At the same time, the studio has also been seen as a takeover target.

Similarly, Lionsgate, along with Viacom and MGM, is an owner of Epix. Starz could unite with Epix, although Viacom is said to be happy with the current structure.

Meanwhile, Malone could look at other ways to grow his firepower.

Les MoonvesPhoto: Getty Images

One idea is teaming with CBS head honcho Leslie Moonves to combine Starz with CBS-owned Showtime. Moonves also kicked the tires on Starz.

Whatever his master plan, it's a given that Malone will look to leverage Lionsgate's content to boost Starz and help the premium channel better compete with rivals HBO and Showtime as well as streaming players like Netflix and Amazon, according to analysts.

Starz is losing the pay-TV rights to Disney movies, including Pixar and Marvel films, to Neflix next year.

Lionsgate's pay TV rights, however, aren't locked up with one single player.

"John likes the Lionsgate guys. He's always been a scale player and an aggregator of assets," said one source.

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Chris Bosh’s career could be over in twist of fate for Heat

In 24 hours, it has gone from Dragic to tragic for the Heat.

One day after their coup of landing crafty point guard Goran Dragic, Pat Riley's franchise was in mourning over the prospect of Chris Bosh's season — and perhaps career — ending.

Less than a week ago, Bosh was gracing the Garden as an Eastern Conference All-Star and teammate of Carmelo Anthony's.

But now Bosh is laid up in the hospital after suffering what is suspected to be a pulmonary embolism — a condition in which an arterty in the lungs becomes clogged when a blood clot breaks off and travels to the lungs. It can be a life-threatening issue if not treated quickly by blood thinners.

According to multiple sources in the medical community, there is a debate on whether it is safe to play contact sports on blood thinners because of the fear of uncontrollable internal — and external — bleeding.

Dealing with the aftermath of blood clots is a tricky business and there's another scenario in which Bosh could be on lifetime blood thinners if blood tests reveal he has an auto-immune disease related to his being prone to blood clots.

The gravity of the situation was evident when Knicks coach Derek Fisher began his pregame press conference before facing the Heat at the Garden by paying tribute to the power forward.

"First I want to send my thoughts and prayers to Chris Bosh and his family that he is OK and will be OK," Fisher said. "It's tough for anybody in our business to get that news.''

The Heat would not yet confirm Bosh's exact condition other than to say he's undergoing tests in a hospital. A CAT scan, however, is a very quick, decisive method of finding blood in the lungs.

Dwyane Wade and BoshPhoto: AP

"I've been in contact with him,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "He's in great care. Everything is premature. We're still collecting as much information as we can. It's too premature. As soon as we collect all data, we'll come up with some announcement.''

The only hope is if the pulmonary embolism is considered minor and Bosh would only need blood thinners for three months. However, it's standard to prescribe blood thinners for one year after a pulmonary embolism.

Bosh awaits a battery of tests on his blood and heart, including a stress test, before anyone can safely say he can play in the NBA, according to medical experts.

"He's in a good spirits,'' Spoelstra said. "CB always is. Right now we're just living in a day-to-day world, like we have all season. We've developed character from going through these adversities.''

The Bosh bombshell took the luster from the Heat's trade for Dragic at the deadline in a move some thought easily would get them into the playoffs and perhaps make them a threat with Bosh having a terrific season.

The Knicks were trying to get into the mix for Dragic, but didn't have a draft pick they could trade sooner than their 2018 selection.

"He's a dynamic explosive playmaker, his ability to get in the paint,'' Spoelstra said of Dragic. "His ability to make other guys better. Another guy who can attack off the dribble. We've liked him for a long time. It's a good fit for the organization. We're excited about it.''

Dragic is expected to re-sign with the Heat, who have his Bird rights and can offer him five years. The Knicks, on Dragic's short list, could only offer four years.

Fisher said Miami helped itself and the Knicks remain on path to a future of cap space after trading Pablo Prigioni for the expiring contract of Russian guard Alexey Shved. Dragic was taking his physical and not yet available for Friday's contest.

"I'm sure Miami is happy,'' Fisher said. "We're catching them without [Dragic], but we'll obviously be seeing a lot of him for the next few years to come, assuming he's back there next season.

"Many teams were deciding what their priorities were. Teams made some moves to make jumps up to the top of their conference. Other teams stayed put planning for the future. For us, we made the moves that were available to keep us in line what our goals are going forward. We know what kind of forward we're potentially able to have this year and next year.''

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Argentina blames ‘impatient’ lawyer for Paul Singer delays

Argentina is lashing out at the Wall Street lawyer tasked with resolving its decade-long debt dispute with billionaire hedge-fund mogul Paul Singer.

The embattled South American country accused Daniel Pollack — the "special master" appointed by Manhattan federal judge Thomas Griesa to lead negotiations — of breaking his own confidentiality rule because he was "impatient" with Argentina.

Pollack "unexpectedly and without consultation with Argentina issued a press release with the undeniable purpose of benefiting the vulture funds, once again," Argentina said in a statement late Thursday.

Argentina was irate over Pollack's release earlier in the day, giving the inside dish on his attempt to restart talks. Pollack said he approached Argentina on Jan. 30 at the request of Singer and his allies.

According to Argentina, he also asked to keep the effort confidential.

Pollack, who said he had made two follow-up calls to Argentina's lawyers, didn't keep quiet. Instead, he said Argentina's government "has neither accepted nor otherwise responded to the invitation" by the Singer group.

Not so, says Argentina. Its lawyers told the government of President Cristina Kirchner about the offer "and responded to Pollack that it was under consideration."

Argentina defaulted in 2001 and offered investors a steep haircut in the form of new discounted bonds.

More than 90 percent of investors agreed. But a handful of bondholders, including Singer, refused and have been pursuing a full payout — plus interest — for more than 10 years. Griesa ruled that Argentina must pay the holdouts roughly $1.6 billion
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Argentina's lawyers have argued that paying Singer and his fellow holdout bond owners would trigger more litigation that could cost it $20 billion — a huge chunk of its foreign reserves.

But the Singer group said it doesn't have to take it all at once, offering the possibility of a settlement "without any present payment of cash," Pollack said.

This isn't the first time Argentina has slammed Pollack. In August, it urged Griesa to remove Pollack "due to his unskillfulness, evident partiality and arbitrariness." Griesa declined the request.

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Wall Street bigwigs hit by salary sqeeuze

Wall Street's top players are getting low-balled.

Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat saw his pay cut 10 percent last year after the bank's profit fell by half, hurt by higher legal costs and a trading slump.

Corbat earned an estimated $13.1 million in 2014, including $3.5 million in deferred stock and a $1.5 million salary, down from $14.5 million in 2013, according to a financial filing on Friday.

Corbat's lower pay puts him in the same league with Bank of America boss Brian Moynihan, who saw his compensation cut to $13 million from more than $14 million the year before.

Both are well below the leading money men at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.

So far, Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein remains the biggest earner among bank chiefs — and the only one to get a raise from the previous year. He raked in $24 million, up $1 million, in 2014.

The pay package for JPMorgan head Jamie Dimon was flat at $20 million, although he received $7.4 million in a cash bonus — his first since 2011.

Both bank stocks rose last year, thanks to an improving US economy. Goldman shares rose 9.4 percent last year, while JPMorgan climbed 7 percent.

Morgan Stanley hasn't released compensation figures for CEO James Gorman yet, but plans to do so in March, according to a person familiar with the bank's plans.

Morgan Stanley shares were up almost 24 percent in 2014.

In contrast, Citi stock performed the worst among its peers, rising just 3.8 percent.

Corbat's pay cut follows a tumultuous year for the bank, which was hit with a string of regulatory and legal costs and a year-end trading slowdown.

Citi struck a $7 billion deal with the Justice Department — one of the largest cash penalties ever — to settle an investigation into mortgage misdeeds.

There was also a surprise $2.7 billon charge related to a currency rigging probe that wiped out most of its fourth-quarter profits.

Adding insult to injury, Citi's board paid the head of institutional banking, James Forese, about $500,000 more than Corbat in 2014, including a $25,000 salary increase, filings show.

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Islanders measure up well with win over NHL-leading Predators

There have been a couple noteworthy notches on measuring stick this season for the Islanders, but this one has to rank up there with the most impressive. If not atop the list.

The Predators came into Thursday night's game at the Coliseum as the best team in the league — the most points, the most consistent, the best goalie, the list goes on. And then the Isles got out to an early lead, held off the surges, and ran away in the third period to pick up a decisive 5-2 win.

"When you play a team that's had success like this, it's a chance to see where you measure up against them," Isles coach Jack Capuano said before the game. "That's what we want to do here."

The Islanders (39-19-1) opened the third up just 3-2, but got that back-breaking goal 7:02 in from defenseman Nick Leddy, as he joined the rush, took a great pass from Colin McDonald, and buried a high wrist shot passed Vezina Trophy front-runner Pekka Rinne for a 4-2 lead.

The sellout Coliseum crowd had to wait just 1:39 for the insurance goal, coming from Josh Bailey on a neat little tuck-in at the left post, watching as Rinne unintentionally slid back and pushed it in, continuing his tough night and giving the Isles the three-goal lead.

It was only on Monday night the Isles suffered a dramatic 6-5 loss to the Rangers, blowing three two-goal leads. But they bounced back with an assertive road game, winning 4-1 in Raleigh, N.C., on Tuesday, the first of this now-two-game winning streak.

The Predators (39-13-6) came in having won six in a row, eight of their past nine, and — well, they were the top team in the NHL, so in the first year of guidance from former Islanders' coach Peter Laviolette, they've been winning a lot.

"He's had success, he's won a Cup, he's done real well for himself," said Capuano, who played summer hockey in Rhode Island with Laviolette as teenagers in 1980s. "He's a good man, a good family guy, and like I said, I'm glad he's got the opportunity now."

The second period was mostly dominated by the Islanders — yet after Thomas Hickey and Leddy both hit pipes, they just couldn't separate themselves. Instead, after an unsuccessful power play, it was the Predators who came back and cut the lead to 3-2 on a great one-timer from James Neal, making it a one-goal game going into the third.

"Our guys have done a good job here of really competing every night," Laviolette had said, "and I guess that's the biggest compliment I can pay them."

The Islanders went down to 11 forwards with 11:21 still remaining in the first when Eric Nystrom — son of Islanders great Bobby Nystrom — leveled Mikhail Grabovski with a clean shoulder-on-shoulder hit.

Grabovski hit his head on the ice, and stayed down, hardly moving, long enough for the stretcher to come out. But he left under his own power, and didn't return, the team calling it just an "upper-body injury."

Maybe his loss was a little easier to take because the Isles left the period up 3-1, getting on the board just 1:00 in when defenseman Brian Strait got one to beat Rinne between his legs. It was followed up at 10:10, when Johnny Boychuk got his sixth of the season on a long slap shot to make it 2-0. Then the lead grew to 3-0 with just over two minutes remaining in the first when John Tavares got his 29th of the season, a Leddy shot from the point getting blocked and landing right on the captain's stick for quick one-timer.

The Predators managed to get one from terrific rookie Filip Forsberg, his 20th of the season on a falling-over shot through traffic with just 17.2 seconds remaining, taking that 3-1 score into the second.

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Madonna is skipping her own Oscar party

Madonna's post-Oscars party, with its no-press rule, has been Hollywood's hottest in recent years. But Page Six has exclusively learned the Material Girl won't be at her own bash this year, thrown with manager Guy Oseary.

Instead, she'll be in rehearsals for an upcoming performance on the Brit Awards on Wednesday at London's O2 arena. But sources close to the singer, 56, promise the LA party "is still happening" and "will be as star-studded and private as ever."

Past guests have included Jennifer Lawrence (who threw up at last year's installment in front of Miley Cyrus, and then told Seth Meyers, "If you get invited you're, like, super important"), Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts and Sean Penn — who reportedly spent last year's bash making out with Charlize Theron.

A former guest explains, "People go to the Vanity Fair party to be photographed — then they go to Madonna's to party in private."

Sean Penn and Charlize TheronPhoto: FilmMagic

But in cutthroat Hollywood, some sour grapes have surrounded the fête because of its super-tight guest list. So some other parties are gunning to take Madonna's crown in her absence.

"Madonna's managed to usurp the Oscars, and she's not from the film business," sniffed a movie vet. "Some people are annoyed that her party has skimmed the most famous people from the top." We hear there are some other hush-hush Hollywood bashes launching this year as alternatives.

Away from the Oscars, Madonna's readying for the March release of her album, "Rebel Heart." So, along with playing at the Brit Awards — where she hasn't performed in 20 years — "Madonna has been committed to performing on 'The Jonathan Ross Show' as well as various other promotion for months," her rep explained of her Oscars absence. Plus, "Any Madonna performance naturally requires a lot of rehearsal — like Tina Turner says, 'We never do nothin' nice and easy.' " And, "I'm told that there will be as many stars as ever at mega manager [Oseary's] party."

Madge's new single, "Living for Love," hit No. 1 on Billboard's Dance Charts, marking her ‎ 44th, tying a record with George Strait.

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Agent wearing wig testifies against accused terrorist

A top secret British MI5 agent donned a wig and glasses to record a deposition that was played at the trial of an accused al Qaeda operative Thursday in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Prosecutors played the clip of the agent's disguised testimony,where in which he recalled his surveillance of accused terrorist Abid Naseer.

Naseer is charged with being part of a global al Qaeda cabal that planned attacks on the New York City subways, a Danish newspaper and a British shopping center.

Naseer has specifically been linked to the planned mall bombing.

The agent stated that he tailed Naseer, and that at one point saw him watching a video of the 9/11 attacks on a cellphone.

The Pakistani defendant is representing himself in court, and claims he is the victim of a government fishing expedition.

Several MI5 agents are slated to testify in the case next week and have been allowed to wear wigs and light makeup to obscure their identities.

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Rangers unable to hold late lead as four-game win streak ends

The Rangers have done just fine without Henrik Lundqvist, but his absence was certainly felt in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Canucks on Thursday night at the Garden, when the Rangers' four-game winning streak was snapped.

Cam Talbot allowed a pair of shootout goals, and Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan were stopped by Vancouver's Ryan Miller.

The Rangers were just two minutes away from a fifth straight victory when Henrik Sedin tied the game by beating Talbot.

But it wasn't simply Sedin's shot that haunted the Rangers, it was their inability to clear the puck that helped lead to Sedin's heroics.

Sedin's second goal of the game capped a wild third period that featured four goals and a desperate save by Talbot — and Marc Staal.

It started with a fight between Chris Kreider and Alexandre Burrows that only proved to be a prelude to a back-and-forth end to regulation.

Carl Hagelin gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead with a tip-in at 5:24 of the third, just 21 seconds after Martin St. Louis tied the game at 3-3 off a pass from Stepan.

The Rangers had coughed up a 2-1 lead as Vancouver's Bo Horvat knotted things in the second and Sedin followed at 3:55 of the third with a power-play tally to give Vancouver its first advantage of the game.

The Rangers held a 26-15 shot advantage through two periods, but couldn't shake Vancouver.

Rick Nash beat Miller on a breakaway 11:00 into the second period to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. It was Nash's eighth goal in the past 10 games.

The Rangers weren't ahead for long, as Horvat took a feed from Ronalds Kenins on a two-on-one and slipped it past Talbot to make it 2-2 at 13:18.

Stepan opened the scoring with his 11th of the season off a nice feed from St. Louis at 11:39 of the first period. And while Stepan and St. Louis put the finishing touches on the goal, the play started with a strong shot by Dan Girardi that Miller couldn't corral.

It continued a trend of strong offensive play by the Rangers' defensemen.

Vancouver struck quickly in the second, as Talbot poked the puck to Shawn Matthias, who took advantage and beat Talbot just 1:43 into the period.

The Rangers appeared to have dodged disaster midway through the third, when Talbot, playing in his eighth straight game in place of the injured Lundqvist, couldn't handle a puck off the boards and directed it straight toward the Rangers' goal.

He quickly dove and prevented the puck from going in, but it took a diving Staal to keep Kenins from jamming the puck in.

It was ruled a no-goal on the ice and after a review, the officials declined to overturn it, since Staal's sprawling move made it impossible to locate the puck.

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‘American Sniper’ killer has schizophrenia: psychiatrist

STEPHENVILLE, Texas — The disturbed man who gunned down the "American Sniper" and his friend doesn't suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder, a forensic psychiatrist testified Thursday.

"It's my opinion that he does not suffer from PTSD," said Dr. Mitchell H. Dunn, who spent more than six hours interviewing former Marine Eddie Ray Routh, 27, in April 2014.

Dunn said there's nothing about Routh's military rec­ord that indicated he had experienced trauma while in the field. Instead, Dunn believes that Routh suffers from schizophrenia.

The accused killer told Dunn that he attacked "American Sniper" Chris Kyle and pal Chad Littlefield out of self-defense, because Routh thought they were going to assassinate him at the Texas shooting range they were visiting on Feb. 2, 2013.

But prosecutors offered a different explanation: jealousy and a desire for fame.

"If you kill someone known as the 'American Sniper,' you might feel important," prosecutor Jane Starnes said.

"Yeah, it's possible," Dunn replied.

Prosecutors also allege that Routh understood what he did was wrong because he fled just after the slayings.

And he later told Dunn, "As soon as I did it, I knew I made a mistake."

The defense rested its case Thursday evening.

Routh, who has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, will not take the stand.

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