WASHINGTON — The Knicks kept pace with the Nets for disgracing The Mecca of Basketball, and Carmelo Anthony is worried his club is starting to lose their confidence and hinted at a disgruntled locker room.
The Knicks stumbled again Saturday, losing to the mediocre Wizards 98-89 at Verizon Center. A large coterie of blue-and-orange clad fans left the D.C. arena in disillusionment after the Knicks’ fifth straight loss as Mike Woodson’s sinking club failed to build upon the Indiana overtime heartbreaker.
But nobody is more disillusioned than Anthony, as the franchise he can leave this summer is now 3-9 after a dirty dozen — stuck in the filthy Atlantic Division basement with the Nets.
Anthony said he’s trying to remain upbeat, but admitted it’s difficult. He finished with 23 points after a solid first half and said the Knicks didn’t make any adjustments to the Wizards’ double-teaming.
“I’m trying to stay strong, keeping my head above water,’’ Anthony said in another troubling monologue. “Trying to stay positive. It’s a very tough time right now.
“It’s a time you can easily just put your head down and mope around. I can’t do that. I have to be there for my team. Them seeing me do that, it’s not helping. This is tough for anybody to go through, especially games we feel we should be winning. Guys can easily lose confidence in a situation like that.’’
“Everybody has their own reason about why they’re mad or upset. The biggest reason is we’re losing basketball games. They have a right to be upset.’’
The Knicks’ offense sputtered in the second half as they notched just 37 points. They had little scoring balance while four Wizards starters had nice scoring evenings — led by speedy point guard John Wall’s spectacular 31-point night. Martell Webster scored 19, Bradley Beal added 18 points and center Marcin Gortat pumped in 16 points with 17 rebounds.
“We played a great first half and came out flat,’’ Woodson said in his first game since owner James Dolan gave him a giant vote of confidence in The Post.
The final indignity came with 30 seconds left, when Iman Shumpert drove for a layup and Wall slid over for a resounding block.
Anthony had a big first half but wound up 9 of 19 shooting. A tentative Andrea Bargnani scored a soft 11 points — 5 of 13 without getting to the free-throw line. Bargnani needed to pick up the slack and failed.
“On the pass they were sending one or two guys,’’ Anthony said. “The game plan was get the ball of out my hands and let someone else beat them. They were successful. Every time I caught the ball they were sending somebody. I don’t think we made an adjustment to that.’’
Was Anthony questioning the coaching staff? Probably not, but the club now heads out West for three rough outings — at Portland, Los Angeles against the Clippers and Denver.
“We just can’t keep losing these games,’’ said Amar’e Stoudemire, who played a season-high 21 minutes and scored 12 points on 5 of 5 shooting with four boards. But he, too, slowed down in the second half. Stoudemire called his night “a bittersweet moment” after looking electric in the low post.
Woodson raved about Stoudemire but little else.
“The only bright spot about tonight was Amar’e Stoudemire,’’ Woodson said. “He was fantastic.’’
The Knicks fell behind 75-69 after three quarters, with the Wizards outscoring them 27-17 in the period. Their first half was crisp, notching 16 assists on 22 field goals and building a nine-point lead before the ball movement stopped in the final two quarters.
“I don’t even know, man,’’ Anthony said. “We start off the game very, very strong. We did a lot of things we planned to do offensively and defensively. In the third, they got out in transition, made shots and we missed shots. We played three-quarters of the game.’’
The Knicks got within three points down the stretch before Webster nailed two straight 3-pointers over Anthony. Then Beal bounced a pass to a wide open Jan Vesley on the fast break as an asleep Bargnani was out of position for an easy dunk and an 89-80 lead with 6:13 left.
“I think we are just trying to stay together,’’ said J.R. Smith, who scored 15 points but missed four straight free throws in the fourth. “I think we are just overanalyzing stuff. We need to get back to having fun.’’