THE WALL HITS BACK: Amar’e Stoudemire and John Wall get tangled up chasing a loose ball in last night’s 106-96 victory by the Wizards over the Knicks in Washington. (AP)
KNICKS FALL HARD: Carmelo Anthony goes flying after a collision with the Wizards’ Nene in the second half of last night’s ugly Knicks loss. (AP)
WASHINGTON — The Knicks hit The Wall last night, The Wall of Complacency.
After winning all five games of their homestand, the Knicks began a two-game road trip last night in the nation’s capital full of themselves.
The Knicks got humbled fast thanks to speedy Wizards point guard John Wall, energized by playing before his college coach, John Calipari, and point-guard legend Magic Johnson.
The Wizards are a different team now that Wall, the former No. 1 overall pick, is back leading the fastbreak and he led Washington to a 106-96 victory at Verizon Center with 21 points and nine assists.
Knicks center Tyson Chandler was fuming after the game and may have even taken a poke at the coaching staff.
“If we want to accomplish our goal, we have to get ready for games like this and get up for games like this,’’ Chandler said. “We were simply outplayed and we can’t allow things like this to happen.
“We have to stick to the game plan and, if the game plan doesn’t work, we have to make adjustments.”
The Wizards are 13-35 but have won seven of their last eight home games. The Knicks, apparently, never got that info.
“We went flat,’’ coach Mike Woodson said. “You got to give Washington credit. They played great from beginning to end. We just showed up thinking we were getting the win.’’
The Wizards shot 53.2 percent — 68.4 percent in the fourth.
“We couldn’t get any stops,’’ Woodson added. “Awful across the board.’’
J.R. Smith said the Knicks (31-16) fell back into the trap of taking lesser teams lightly.
“They’ve been playing better with [Wall],’’ Smith said. “It’s still disappointing though. We expected to come in here and win and I think that’s part of our problem. We just expect teams when we come in the building to lay down and not play and we can’t do that.’’
Woodson set a goal of closing out the last 11 games at 9-2. The Knicks, who play in Minnnesota tomorrow, have no margin for error as they are 6-2 since the coach’s edict.
The Knicks took a slim 73-70 lead into the fourth and figured to do what they’ve done all season — close a team out. However, the Wizards blitzed them, 36-23, with players wide open all over D.C.
“We can’t win a game giving up 36 points in the fourth,’’ said Carmelo Anthony, who scored 31 points. “We’re definitely one of the best second-half, fourth–quarter teams. It’s usually the other way around.’’
Also doing D.C. damage were two familiar names: ex-Knick draft pick Trevor Ariza (20 points, 5-of-7 from 3-point land) and Chris Singleton, whom the Knicks bypassed in the 2011 draft to take Iman Shumpert. Singleton had a strong fourth quarter, scoring nine of his 10 points. Washington made 11 of 20 3-pointers.
Chandler was miffed at one play in the fourth quarter when Wall was left open at the elbow for a couple of seconds before he drained a 12-footer. Not one Knick came out to challenge.
“We knew the plays they were running and we just didn’t work hard enough to stop them,’’ said Chandler, whose streak of three straight 20-rebound games ended after collecting 13.
There was a scary moment when an airborne Anthony toppled over Nene on a drive in the lane with 1:16 left in the game, but he landed safely. It was the Knicks’ only good news of the night.
Washington went up 51-48 at halftime as the Wizards shot 52.6 percent. The Knicks fell behind 16-5 in the opening five minutes but scrambled back into the game with a 10-0 run, capped by an Anthony 3-pointer. But the rest of the game was trading baskets and watching Wall fly.
“We have to be ready at the start of the game and I thought we came out way too flat,’’ Chandler said.
Wall, who made his season debut on Jan. 12 after a kneecap injury, even got into a minor altercation with Stoudemire, who wouldn’t let him walk by with 2:12 left in the half. Wall had to be restrained and Stoudemire walked away laughing after they picked up double technicals. But it was Wall who had the last laugh.