NBA

Carmelo believes Knicks ‘can do something special’

OH REALLY? Carmelo Anthony, on the bench after fouling out in the fourth quarter, says the Knicks are “the better team” despite facing a 3-1 deficit to the Pacers after last night’s 93-82 loss in Game 4. (N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg)

INDIANAPOLIS — Carmelo Anthony boldly declared last night he believes the Knicks “are the better team” in this series and remains confident his squad can surge back from a 3-1 deficit.

“I believe. I really believe that we can do something special here. I’m very confident that we can do something special here,” Anthony said after the Knicks’ 93-82 Game 4 loss to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

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“We’ve got to believe within ourselves because nobody is going to believe in us and have the confidence enough to say we have a chance to win this series. I believe that. I still do believe that we are the better team. We’re just not playing at that level right now.”

Anthony’s claim that the Knicks are better seems dubious at the moment. The Knicks and Pacers split a four-game regular-season series, both teams going 2-0 at their respective home arenas. Indiana, though, now owns a 3-1 series lead, and the Pacers have walloped the Knicks in the last two games here with the Knicks’ offense ranking as dreadful.

The Knicks return to the Garden to try to save their season tomorrow night. Even if they do win, they’ll then go back to Indianapolis and have to win at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where they are 0-4 this year.

“Our backs are definitely against the wall at this point. We have to take it one game at a time,” Anthony said. “We must win Thursday and figure it out from there. We remain very confident.”

Anthony last night was one of the Knicks’ few bright spots, delivering a team-high 24 points and pulling down nine rebounds before fouling out after 41 minutes. The superstar forward did go scoreless over the final 16 minutes, though with four minutes remaining in the third quarter, his 24 points represented half of the team’s 48 points.

“We’re not scoring the basketball at this point,” Anthony said.

For the series, Anthony is averaging 26 points per game, although he’s only shooting 41 percent from the field.

“At this point,” he said, “it’s do or die.”