INDIANAPOLIS — With suspended Carmelo Anthony back at the Conrad Hotel, the Knicks needed J.R. Smith to flash his recent All-Star form and Amar’e Stoudemire to flash his old All-Star form.
Neither happened.
As the fourth quarter dawned and the game was there for the taking with the Knicks up two, Smith, playing with his 11 stitches, disintegrated in a flurry of wild misses, Stoudemire remained invisible and the Knicks missed 11 straight shots during a seven-minute scoring drought.
Anthony may have shut off his TV set in disgust as the Pacers blitzed the Knicks with a 13-2 run and stormed to an ugly 81-76 victory at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
Smith, who had the hot hand late in the third quarter, couldn’t carry it into the fourth and finished with 25 points on a dreadful 10-of-29 shooting. Often playing the point, he was 2-for-8 as the Knicks (23-12) scored a sickly 16 points in the fourth and dropped their second straight and fourth in the last six games.
They host the Bulls tonight at the Garden, with Anthony back but another player going down in Marcus Camby (plantar fasciitis).
“It’s tough not having that huge crutch to lean on — No. 7,’’ Smith said. “We really beat ourselves. It’s tough when you’re missing shots to not have the one guy who can get the buckets for you.’’
Stoudemire, in his fifth game back from knee surgery, didn’t make progress and failed to reach double figures. He finished with nine points on 4-of-11 shooting, though Mike Woodson kept his minutes down to 21:31.
“I don’t know if we were fatigued or we ran out of juice,” Woodson said. “We couldn’t find offense in the fourth quarter. We couldn’t get anything going pace-wise. But I like how we defended.”
The Knicks shot just 34.8 percent, dying for any offense. Before the game, Woodson said of Smith, “He’s put himself as a sixth-man candidate as well as an All-Star guard in the East. He’s played at that level.’’
But there is only one Anthony, who joined the club on the team bus an hour after the final buzzer, way too late after serving his suspension for his confrontations Monday night with Kevin Garnett.
Anthony wasn’t there, but Pacers legend Reggie Miller was calling the game for TNT and so was surprise guest Colts coach Chuck Pagano, sitting courtside. Both received standing ovations.
As if the night couldn’t get any worse, Camby, who has started the last two weeks, had his plantar fasciitis resurface. He left the game early in the third quarter and hobbled out of the arena in a walking boot and crutches. Meanwhile, Tyson Chandler reported afterward he is suffering from neck spasms but hopes to play tonight.
Because of Camby’s injury, Stoudemire decided to play tonight on the second night of a back-to-back after the medical staff initially wanted him to rest.
“We’re definitely shorthanded, definitely banged up,’’ he said. “We never got into a great rhythm offensively. I wanted to play more but we are still taking precautionary measures.’’
The rust is evaporating ever so slowly for Stoudemire. On one play, he got his shot blocked easily by Roy Hibbert after he drove to the rim.
“We’re still trying to get STAT back to his old self,’’ Smith said.
Stoudemire isn’t concerned.
“It’s only my fifth game,’’ Stoudemire said. “It’s still got a long time to continue to build. That will come. My legs are there. My explosiveness is there. It’s all timing and repetition. Sometimes you get your shot blocked. I’ve gotten my shot blocked since my rookie year. I had a 30-inch vertical leap then.’’
The Pacers got up 11 points with 9:25 left in the third quarter before the Knicks rallied behind Smith, who came alive after an uneven first half. Smith had 12 points in the third quarter on 5-of-10 shooting. He hit two straight pull-up jumpers to give the Knicks a 60-58 lead heading to the fourth.
The Knicks got up 62-58 on a dunk by Chandler before they went stone cold and missed 11 straight field goals.
“Playing shorthanded is a factor,’’ Chandler said. “Guys are not used to playing with each other.’’
After a slow start, Indiana’s Paul George erupted for 24 points, and big man Ian Mahinmi made the Knicks pay in the final period, scoring 11 of his 13 points. Woodson started an overwhelmed Chris Copeland (eight points) at small forward for the absent Anthony as the Knicks fell to 3-4 without their MVP candidate.
marc.berman@nypost.com