Mike Woodson has said that it is "healthy" for players to speak out when they are upset at losing in the NBA.

The New York Knicks lost to their local rivals, the Brooklyn Nets, earlier this week, resulting in Carmelo Anthony observing that the team has "mismatches", while Tyson Chandler claimed that they were "outschemed".

The head coach told ESPN: "Sometimes it's healthy when players get upset, it means they're ticking a little bit. If they want to lash out at me, that's fine. I'm not a coach that takes things personally. At the end of the day we got to meet at a common ground and win ball games.

"That's what it's all about and that's what I'm trying to be about. I still have to stay positive and I still have to coach and push this team to play at a high level, and that's what I'm going to try to do the rest of the way.

"I'm not kicking Tyson to the curb. I'm not going to kick Melo or anybody to the curb, because at the end of the day we're all in this foxhole together and we've got to figure it out."

The Knicks face the Philadelphia 76ers later today.