By June, the hope is Hurricane Sandy’s devastation will be repaired. By June, the Knicks hope they will see the Heat on a bigger playoff stage — the Eastern Conference Finals.
Friday night, the Knicks just wanted to give their fans something to cheer about and they made the Garden rock and roll with a flawless performance in a delayed season opener.
With all of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut needing a diversion, the Knicks and Carmelo Anthony provided one in wrecking the defending champion Heat and LeBron James, 104-84, in their season opener at a jubilant jam-packed Garden crowd of 19,033.
Anthony took the microphone before tip-off to give the surprising overflow crowd inspirational words, then took the game by the horns.
He finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds, setting the giddy tone with a 16-point first quarter. The fans chanted “MVP’’ when he shot free throws in the final two minutes on a night perfect on every level.
“We were kind of up and down the last couple of days,’’ Anthony said. “Then we heard they had canceled the marathon. We were like, we had to go out there and play and give New Yorkers a couple of hours of peace for coming to the game to support us.’’
James, meanwhile, was booed all night, racked up 23 points and five assists but never dominated as the Knicks defense hounded him, delivering hard foul after hard foul, including one by Anthony on a drive.
“Before the game it was difficult because we were in the locker room and everyone has the hurricane on their mind and what the city is going through,’’ said Tyson Chandler, who was a perfect 5-for-5 for 10 points and six offensive rebounds. “And as we were going out onto the floor, we were like, ‘Look we’re here, our friends are here. The thing we can do is put a smile on their faces and represent the city well.’ ’’
The Knicks’ ball movement and 3-point shooting were sensational as they bagged 19-of-36 attempts. Point guard Raymond Felton, Jeremy Lin’s replacement, was brilliant in his second stint with the club, finishing with 14 points and nine assists.
His highlight play was a dish to Anthony in the corner after zig-zagging into the lane, splitting Heat defenders. As Anthony nailed the right-corner 3 to give the Knicks an early 15-6 lead, the Garden joyously roared.
Steve Novak, bottled up in the Miami playoff series, unleashed his fury, sinking 17 points and nailing 5-of-8 3-pointers.
Jason Kidd, in his Knicks debut and starting at shooting guard in the small alignment, moved the ball and drilled 3-of-5 3-pointers for 12 points and three assists.
“With the storm, to have them come for two hours to relax and cheer and feel good about their home team, that was the biggest thing we tried to do tonight,’’ Kidd said.
Before tip-off, Anthony gave a speech to the packed house that braved the transit woes. There were few vacant seats. “It’s the most important time for everyone to come together as one and so we can rebuild the city,’’ he told the sellout crowd.
“It was something we wanted to do,’’ Anthony said. “They rarely hear from us about how we feel in situations. It was only right, me being one of the leaders of the team to step up to the forefront and give them some words.’’
The Knicks played their season opener one day late because of Thursday’s postponement of their game with the Nets in Brooklyn. They looked like they’d been waiting seven months to exact revenge on last April’s first-round KO by the Heat.
“The defense was solid from the very beginning all the way through,’’ coach Mike Woodson said. “That‘s what we got to do if we want to win our division.’’
Depth may be the Knicks’ biggest attribute and Friday night they routed the Heat without needing Amar’e Stoudemire and Iman Shumpert, two starters out until December, and bench big men Rasheed Wallace and Marcus Camby. Wallace entered in garbage time with 3:00 left after the fans chanted his name.
Miami threw in the towel with 4:21 left, trailing 96-77, when James and Dwyane Wade (15 points) were replaced. The Heat gave up. New Yorkers haven’t.
“Our fans were fantastic,’’ Woodson said. “They were like our sixth man. It says a lot about our city New York and the fans that support us.’’
marc.berman@nypost.com