NBA

Knicks lose to Heat without Anthony

MIAMI — It was Bill Walker mano-a-mano against LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

It wasn’t a fair fight, but it turned out closer than anyone could have expected.

With Carmelo Anthony bailing out last night to rest, the Knicks went into Miami feeling their only chance of survival was to bomb away from the 3-point line, play gritty defense and seeing where the chips fall.

It almost worked, but ultimately Walker could not save them despite sinking seven 3-pointers and finishing with 21 points in the Heat’s 99-89 victory at American Airlines Arena.

The mighty Heat staged a parade of highlight-reel dunks while the Knicks lived off 3-pointers, but threatened to pull a major upset for more than three quarters. The teams were tied at 74 with 9:50 left, and it looked as if Isiah Thomas, sitting in the first row of the baseline near the Knicks bench, had brought some rare good luck.

But ultimately their treys — 43 attempts in all — and not having Anthony’s presence could not match up with Miami’s power dunks by James and Wade.

With Anthony back in the locker room getting treatment on his wrist and ankle, James and Wade attacked the rim with a vengeance. James finished with 31 points on 11 of 18 shooting, to go with eight rebounds and seven assists, many on lobs to Wade.

Returning from a seven-game absence, Wade was dazzling with 28 points. The duo combined to shoot 22 of 37 from the field. But somehow, the Knicks hung tough into the fourth quarter.

“We just had trouble manufacturing a lot scoring,’’ Mike D’Antoni said. “But I’m proud of our guys. They fought. They couldn’t have played any harder.’’

The Knicks (7-12), who have lost eight of nine and play in Houston tonight sans Anthony, were a ridiculous 18 of 43 from the 3-point line, but made just three in the fourth quarter. The franchise record for attempts is 47, and the team fell two short of the record for made 3-pointers.

“We just competed and stopped thinking about things,’’ Walker said. “Everyone did what they did best. I’ve done it before, I had seven threes in Toronto. I just tried to be aggressive.’’

Walker hit three straight treys early in the third quarter, the last one banging off the glass as the Heat called timeout. Jared Jeffries ran onto the court for a celebratory chest-bump as the Knicks went up 62-58.

Feeling Anthony’s absence, the Knicks petered late in the fourth and were outscored 25-18 in the period.

“I definitely want to be that guy, especially with Melo banged up,’’ Walker said. “Anything I can do off the bench.’’

The Knicks did not need a monster game from Amar’e Stoudemire to stay close. He had a quiet first half and finished with 12 points on 5-of-14 shooting. Toney Douglas got hot early from the 3-point line, hitting 4 of 8 and finishing with 16 points after replacing Anthony in the starting lineup.

“We left our hearts out on the line,’’ Stoudemire said. “We played great, just not good enough to win.’’

On the night’s highlight play for Miami, Wade, who had five steals, intercepted a pass and found Norris Cole, who tossed an over-the-head feed to an airborne James, who ferociously rammed it home.

But the Knicks had come to play and were not in awe. Rookie Iman Shumpert chased down his Chicago idol, Wade, who was on a breakaway. Shumpert swatted the ball from behind while making contact for a hard foul. Wade went over to complement the rookie.

“He said, good block,’’ Shumpert said.

Thinking Wade had taken exception, Tyson Chandler raced over to congratulate Shumpert on the hard foul while Stoudemire got in Wade’s face.

“That’s how we have to play,’’ Chandler said. “It’s our personality.’’