Knicks players responding to Woodson; D’Antoni wants to coach again next season

The New York Knicks have won three straight games since Mike D’Antoni’s departure last week, as players have been responding to interim coach Mike Woodson’s disciplinarian approach, a style polar opposite to that of D’Antoni’s.

“(D’Antoni’s) greatest success came when players held themselves accountable in the locker room,” a D’Antoni confidant told The Post. “There are two kinds of coaches — disciplinarians and hands off. He let the players handle themselves. It’s great when you have a Steve Nash in your locker room. It’s not great when you have players who knew they wouldn’t be around too long. He’s a great coach, great X’s-and-O’s guy but never got the chance to really show it."

Center Tyson Chandler, a D’Antoni supporter according to The Post, said Woodson “stays on top of guys throughout the game, in shootaround, practices, before the game, during the game, halftimes. He keeps you on your toes."

Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire have not complained that their minutes have been reduced under Woodson, according to the report. But Woodson, upon taking over the job, made it clear to his team that he wanted to two star forwards taking shots in crunch time.

D’Antoni, meanwhile, wants to coach again next season and is “not bitter he lost a power struggle with Anthony,” The Post reports. “(Knicks owner James) Dolan picked a different prom date,’’ a source said. “There will be other dances."