NBA

Knicks defeat Hawks; Anthony, Stoudemire combine for 61 points

TAG TEAM: Amar’e Stoudemire, above, dunking over Ivan Johnson, and Carmelo Anthony combined for 61 points in the Knicks’ win over the Hawks yesterday. (EPA)

ATLANTA — This time, Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony became the fearsome tandem nobody wants to face in the first round next weekend and not the dysfunctional duo that surfaced in Cleveland on Friday.

It’s been a long time coming.

The superstar duo led the Knicks to a wild 113-112 matinee thriller yesterday at Philips Arena in what Mike Woodson termed “an old-school shootout.’’

Anthony shot lights out with 39 points, hitting the game-winning bucket. Stoudemire, in his second game back from a bulging disk injury, scored an efficient 22 points with 12 rebounds and stopped a driving Marvin Williams from converting a buzzer-beating dunk to save the victory.

Anthony and Stoudemire totaled 61 points as the Knicks survived Woodson’s decision to rest weary center Tyson Chandler for the playoffs.

The victory kept the Knicks’ slim hopes alive of moving up to No. 6 and avoiding Miami or Chicago. The Knicks trail the Magic by two games after last night’s 101-74 loss to the Nuggets. Both teams have two to play.

To move up, the Knicks will need to win their last two against the Clippers and Bobcats, while Orlando loses their final two against Charlotte and Memphis.

If the standings go unchanged, the Knicks will face Miami next Sunday, but they still could fall back to No. 8 and get Chicago. The Knicks are ahead of the Sixers by a half game.

Despite their lackluster defense minus Chandler, it came down to one last play with the Hawks inbounding with 3.7 seconds left after Anthony’s 23-foot jumper with 1:40 left sent the Knicks to a 113-112 lead.

Williams, at the top of the key, spun on Stoudemire, drove down the lane and went up for the potential game-winning dunk. It came out — as Stoudemire harassed him the whole way, leapt to partially deflect it at the rim and managed to avoid a foul. Anthony also came over to guard the rim. The referees ultimately ruled the dunk wouldn’t have counted as it came a split-second too late. Nonetheless, Stoudemire made him work.

“Marvin attacked the rim well, but I thought both Carmelo and I got our hands on the ball, making it hard for him to get that basket,’’ Stoudemire said. “No contact at all.”

Woodson said that on the final play, rookie Iman Shumpert denied Joe Johnson (22 points) from getting the ball, leaving Williams to get another crack at Stoudemire after having scored 29 points on 10-of-14 shooting.

“Amar’e played it well at the rim,’’ Woodson said.

Anthony played well all around, back to himself, shooting without fear after his 12-point disengagement in Cleveland. They also got a big boost from point guard Baron Davis (13 points, 10 assists), who had missed the last two games with the stomach flu, and Landry Fields (18 points on 7-of-8 shooting).

Anthony does not want to hear he and Stoudemire can’t make music together, not anymore. The only caveat is Stoudemire was at center and Anthony at power forward in Chandler’s absence.

“I was just continuing playing the way I’ve been playing, people are putting too much emphasis on the 12 points I had against Cleveland,” Anthony said. “I’m playing my game. People are just looking at that situation a little too closely. We’re both basketball players. We both know how to play basketball. I don’t think we’ll ever have a problem coexisting out there on the basketball court and tonight was a prime example of that. When he had it, we played off of him. When I had it, we played off of me. And good things happened out there.’’

Johnson drilled a 3-pointer with 1:50 left to give the Hawks a 112-111 lead. But a fearless Anthony came right back down, didn’t hestitate and fired in a right-wing bomb to regain the lead. Neither team scored again.

Anthony shot 14-of-32 from the field, made 8-of-9 free throws and had 10 rebounds.

Stoudemire had given the Knicks big lift to start the fourth quarter with back-to-back dunks.

“Amar’e was phenomenal,’’ Anthony said. “The way we played off each other — when he had it, he had it. When I had it, I had it.’’

Granted, this was no defensive gem as the Knicks fell behind 65-60 at halftime, and Chandler made a stronger case for Defensive Player of the Year by not playing.

“The offense was great,” said Woodson, who moved to 16-6 as the interim coach in beating his former team. “It’s fun for the fans but we have to defend better.”

After a sloppy, foul-plagued first half, Stoudemire roared in the second half in a game filled with angry words and physical play. He made 9-of-13 buckets overall and it looked like the Hawks were being extra rough with him.

In the third, Josh Smith knocked him down and Stoudemire sprung back up. In the fourth, guard Jannero Pargo stood belly to belly with Stoudemire after a whistle, trying to start something. Anthony and point guard Jeff Teague also exchanged words across the game.

“It was very physical, I love it,’’ Stoudemire said. “That’s my style of play. I felt great, strong, my back feels phenomenal. I think my new braids are making guys intimidated so they want to get physical with me.’’

marc.berman@nypost.com