“He told me, ‘Let’s play through you,’ ” Kidd said. “Coach wanted to play through Carmelo, but Carmelo was like, ‘No, I want to play through Jason.’ I think that’s the greatest compliment a teammate can get.”

Kidd, 39, is the third-oldest player in the N.B.A. behind his teammate Kurt Thomas and Grant Hill of the Los Angeles Clippers, who are both 40. Yet Kidd is one of the biggest reasons the Knicks are 15-5 and atop the Eastern Conference standings. Sunday’s game was a prime example of Kidd’s influence.

Regardless of his 17 points against the Nuggets, the plays that led the Knicks to the victory were the ones in which he did not score. When he entered the game with 10 minutes 32 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Knicks trailed, 88-83.

Kidd played a role in the Knicks’ next 18 points: an assist on Steve Novak’s 3-pointer, an assist on Tyson Chandler’s dunk, a rebound of J. R. Smith’s long 3-point miss over two Nuggets and a pass to a wide-open Ronnie Brewer for a layup, a transition pass that led to two made free throws by Brewer, an assist on Anthony’s midrange jumper, an assist on Anthony’s 3-pointer, an assist on Chandler’s alley-oop dunk and a driving layup of his own.

When Kidd’s run was over, the Knicks had a 101-95 lead.

“He had an unbelievable night,” Chandler said of Kidd. “I just know he’s going to make the right decision. He’s always going to take the right shot or put the person who needs to take the shot in the right position.”