The Knicks could use the break — the All-Star break. Even Carmelo Anthony may decide to take a break, too.
After injuring his right biceps during Wednesday night’s 92-88 loss to the Raptors, Anthony left open the possibility of sitting out Sunday’s All-Star Game. Anthony had a dead arm and the Knicks looked like a dead team.
Ugly loss. Ugly game. Ugly night.
The Knicks ended the unofficial first half with a thud in a dispiriting loss, allowing Toronto reserve Alan Anderson to light up Broadway for 26 points while Anthony went into the tank.
Anthony, heading to Houston for the All-Star Game, shot a dreadful 5-of-24 for 12 points. The Knicks, the oldest team in the league, sputtered into the break at 32-18 and losers of two straight and three of their last four games.
A frustrated Anthony also picked up a technical foul as the Knicks shot 35.4 percent and looked out of sync all evening, not responding to Sunday’s statement loss to the Clippers.
Anthony said he suffered a “contusion’’ of his biceps after getting elbowed on a drive by Demar DeRozan in the first quarter.
“It was something like a dead arm out there,’’ Anthony said. “I tried to get through it and get some feeling back. Throughout the whole game, it was bothering me.’’
When asked if he definitely would play Sunday as the starting forward for the East, Anthony said, “I’ll see and take it day by day. I’m not going to force it. As bad as you want to play the All-Star Game, if I can’t go, I can’t go.’’
Certainly, with three days off, Anthony has a great chance of making a recovery. But will the Knicks recover?
“This one hurts,’’ he said. “These are games we should win.’’
Toronto, spurred by the Rudy Gay trade, has won four straight to move to 21-32.
Coach Mike Woodson was deeply disappointed at the Knicks’ failure to make simple layups.
“I can’t wait to get back now,’’ he said. “I got to sit there the next three, four days thinking about these last two losses. They got to go through the same thing. We’ll try to figure out and get back to how we were playing earlier [in the season]. We got a lot of work on our hands.”
“We missed fastbreaks, layups, free throws,’’ Woodson said. “We couldn’t finish shots around the rim. We had great looks, we were missing point-blank layups. That puts a lot of pressure to make shots when you’re missing layups.’’
Asked about Anthony’s putrid night, in which he missed his share of driving layups, Woodson said, “It was probably one of the worst games Melo played all year.’’
Raymond Felton had a sloppy outing, too, shooting 3-of-9 for 16 points with four turnovers. Anthony hit a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter after the Knicks got the offensive rebound following Felton’s wild airball on a runner. That brought them within 83-80 with 2:50 left.
That was the end of the magic. In the final two minutes, Anthony intercepted a pass but missed a fastbreak layup. He then missed a 3-pointer from the left wing, the ball bounding off the front iron and caroming over the backboard.
“It could be leading up to the break guys are excited about getting a break, but we have to beat the teams we are supposed to beat,’’ Amar’e Stoudemire said. “This should’ve been a win for us.’’
The officiating was inconsistent throughout in a game marred by whistles. The Garden was in an uproar after Gay received an alley-oop that he missed. Tyson Chandler barely touched him, but was called for a foul with 2:33 left. Gay made 1 of 2 free throws, making it 84-80 as the boos rained down.
Anthony also earned an ill-timed technical foul while Felton was shooting free throws with 4:50 left in the first half. Still arguing a play two possessions later, referee Brian Forte T’d him up. Anthony, among the league leaders in technical fouls, was hit on a drive to the basket and was still fuming.
Chandler, after committing a questionable charge on a 3-on-1 break, got a technical in the third quarter after elbowing Jonas Valanciunas as he went for a rebound off a free-throw attempt.
“Tonight was an ugly game,’’ Chandler said. “A lot of missed layups, free throws, brain freezes on defense.’’
The Knicks seemed to lack energy and missed easy shots. Late in third quarter, score tied, Stoudemire front-rimmed a dunk, got the rebound and missed the layup. Iman Shumpert had a dunk blocked in the first quarter by Valanciunas.
“The break is coming at a good time,’’ Chandler said.
marc.berman@nypost.com