When Tom Thibodeau spent much of his postgame press conference on Tuesday repeating the mantra “I’m just worried about Charlotte” to almost every question, you could believe him. He had been through this just a few days before.

Last Friday in Charlotte, the Knicks faced a depleted Hornets squad to complete a five-game road trip, barely managing a one-point win. That’s why Thibodeau will never allow himself to look forward.

Sometimes warnings fall on deaf ears, however, and the Knicks found themselves trailing by 13 points minutes into Thursday night’s game against the Hornets at Madison Square Garden.

That activated the wake-up call – a wake-up call that Thibodeau hopes lasts longer than this night.

First it was Jalen Brunson who got them back into the game with 19 of his 24 points in the first quarter. Josh Hart took over in the second quarter with 14 of his 18 points. OG Anunoby scored 15 of his 25 points in the third quarter as the Knicks turned that early deficit into a 28-point lead with their 125-101 victory.

The fourth quarter? Karl-Anthony Towns, who grabbed 16 rebounds, had 12 of his 27 points. Mikal Bridges finished 19th.

“I think we put ourselves in a hole in the first quarter,” Brunson said. “ . . . And then, at the start of the second half, we should have started the game. We showed a lot of energy on defense, made stops and made easy baskets, and that was it.”

Even as they pulled away in this game, the Knicks showed why nothing can be taken for granted. Brunson collided with Charlotte’s Nick Richards in the third quarter and took a hard shot to the right side of the hip area. He only stayed in the game for a few minutes before heading to the locker room with 2:39 left in the third.

When the game ended, his father, assistant coach Rick Brunson, also went to the locker room. The younger Brunson finally came out with 6:29 left in the game and returned to the bench with a wrap around his torso. He was listed as available. “I feel great,” he said. “I’ll see how I feel tomorrow. And that’s it.”

The Knicks didn’t need to force Brunson back on the court as they dominated the second half and outscored Charlotte 38-16 in the third quarter, putting the game out of reach.

Anunoby had a sequence in the third quarter in which he fired a shot deep into the stands behind the Knicks’ bench and, on the same possession, fired another shot into the stands on the other side of the basket, prompting chants of “OG.” from the crowd.

“I think we just came out and did better,” Towns said. “We made it difficult for them to shoot and caused turnovers, and we translated the turnovers into offense.

“So they’re a really good team there. A young team, very talented, it presents a lot of problems and, you know, especially at halftime we were able to become more disciplined and play at a higher level.”

This was the latest test for the Knicks – not of how they can compete with the NBA’s best, but of how they can use a portion of the schedule loaded with winnable games to their advantage.

The Knicks easily handled a weakened New Orleans and dominated a solid Orlando team earlier in the month. They have won nine of their last 11 games and are now 14-8, and there is reason to believe they can keep it up.

Thibodeau may not want to do it, but we can look at the schedule and see that the Knicks have a favorable set of games in December that can position them for the postseason.

According to NBA.com’s Strength of Schedule rankings, the Knicks have the easiest schedule in the league this month – at least before factoring them into the NBA Cup schedule, which so far only included a quarterfinal game against the Atlanta Hawks next Wednesday. The Knicks have just one consecutive set and face eight teams under .500 and five with winning records (Orlando again, Minnesota, San Antonio and the Cup game against Atlanta).

“I think we’re all looking at the schedule,” Hart said. “I think, firstly, we just want to know what the month brings out of curiosity. We have enough teams that have struggled so far, but at the end of the day these teams are all good players who are here for a reason. So we can’t sit here and take anyone too lightly. . . “When you give life to guys, life to opposing teams, sometimes that’s the worst thing you can do.”

Notes and quotes: Cam Payne was taken out of the game due to what the team called an effusion in his left elbow. . . Precious Achiuwa made his regular season debut after suffering a hamstring strain in the preseason. He played 12 minutes, scored two points and grabbed four rebounds and was greeted with an ovation when he reported to the scorer’s table for the first time. “It means a lot to me,” he said. “Of course New York is very close to my heart. Just being able to go out and listen to the audience meant a lot to me. Watching from the sidelines was definitely very hard, but just being out there and knowing that the crowd had my back throughout the whole process was very reassuring.”

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, as well as nearly every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.