WASHINGTON — Carmelo Anthony showed he is still superb without Amar’e Stoudemire, and Steve Novak made a case that if the Knicks star power forward isn’t producing, he can do a heckuva job in the starting job.
With Stoudemire missing the preseason opener with a bruised left knee in a bad omen, the Knicks moved the ball with aplomb. Anthony poured in 17 points in 20 minutes and Novak was a perfect 7 of 7 from the 3-point line, finishing with a team-high 21 points as the Knicks beat the depleted Wizards, 108-101, before a small crowd at Verizon Center.
“It’s contagious,’’ Anthony said of the ball movement. “We were overpassing and that’s a good thing.’’
The Knicks were spectacular from beyond the arc as they shot 18 of 33 — 54.5 percent. For the first preseason game, when rust is prevalent, that is special.
“Guys were open all over the place,’’ coach Mike Woodson said.
J.R. Smith, perhaps proving a point to Woodson, shot lights out — nailing 8 of 11 shots in his role as the sixth man, finishing with 20 points.
Meanwhile, Woodson elected to start Mychel Thompson, who played good defense but shot bricks. Thompson was 0 for 5. Smith is aiming to start this season and Woodson is opposed to it.
“He played great, that’s what he can do,’’ Woodson said. “He can score the ball and he’s trying to defend this year, which is nice to see. Everybody coming off the bench is going to play an important role. The bench guys are just as important as the starters.’’
The Wizards were playing without point guard John Wall, who has a stressed patella tendon and will not return until late November, Nene (plantar fasciitis) and their starting center Emieka Okafor (food poisoning).
“I was pleased with everything,’’ Woodson said. “Some of the young guys were nervous, but the veterans played well. ‘’
In Stoudemire’s absence, Kurt Thomas, 40, started at power forward and played steady and was a plus-23 when he was on the floor. Stoudemire said he plans to play tomorrow in Hartford against the Celtics.
The Knicks’ three-headed point-guard monster of Raymond Felton, Jason Kidd and Pablo Prigioni did the job. Felton had eight assists, Kidd had four assists and the 35-year-old rookie Prigioni, left open a lot, banged in 4 of 8 3-pointers and finished with 14 points in 21 minutes.
“Great ball movement,’’ said Tyson Chandler, who added 13 points, including two monster put-back dunks. ”All three point guards played a great game.’’
Chandler said he and Anthony clearly are in Olympic form.
“We played a lot of basketball,’’ Chandler said. “It was like we never lost a step. It’s not like we’re trying to get the rust off.’’
The Knicks ran out to a 38-21 lead with their main rotation guys early in the second quarter. They hit 11 of their first 16 shots and six of their first eight 3-pointers.
Novak never missed. After failing to get open in the Miami series last spring, he aced his first game since signing a four-year, $16 million contract — starter’s money.
“Sometimes they go in for you like that and sometimes your shot feels the same and you miss all seven,’’ Novak said.
“Maybe now they’ll invite him to the 3-pont shooting contest,’’ Chandler said.
When the Knicks went to the periphery of their camp roster, the Wizards exploded on a 18-0 run to take a 39-38 lead in the second quarter and were up 56-53 at halftime.
Offensively, the Knicks looked sharp. But Woodson is trying to make the Knicks the best defensive club in the NBA and they weren’t that in the first half.
The Knicks pumped in 10 of 17 3-pointers in the first half.
Novak came off the bench and did what he couldn’t do in the Miami series — drain 3-pointers at will. He was 4 of 4 from 3-point range.