NBA

Knicks face Hawks trying to mix Anthony, Stoudemire

ATLANTA — In Amar’e Stoudemire’s return to the Knicks on Friday, he managed to do something no NBA player had been able to accomplish the past 3 1/2 weeks: Stop Carmelo Anthony.

Or maybe it was Anthony who stopped himself in Cleveland as his 12-point, one-rebound, four-turnover outing may be an alarming foreshadowing of the postseason which begin next weekend.

The Stoudemire-Anthony dynamic is a vexing issue interim coach Mike Woodson said he will figure out, perhaps starting this afternoon against the Hawks at Philips Arena. If not, Miami or Chicago — whichever the Knicks play in the first round — will be laughing all the way to the second round.

If Stoudemire goes to the bench, it has to be a joint decision by co-captains — Stoudemire and Anthony — not something Woodson determines by himself. There is too much politics involved, especially with both players locked up long-term.

Stoudemire is virtually untradeable with $65 million left on his pact, so they will try everything to get it to work.

Anthony, after averaging 30.6 points in the 13 games Stoudemire missed, lost his mojo Friday in Cleveland, looking as if the joy with which he had been playing vanished into Lake Erie.

Predictably, Stoudemire had his best moments when Anthony sat on the bench the entire fourth quarter. Stoudemire had eight of his 15 points in the fourth as the Knicks rallied from 19 down to get within 98-90 at the end.

The fact is, Stoudemire wants Anthony to still play his game and not defer to him.

“Melo feels obligated to pass Amar’e the ball and change up his offense,” one person familiar with the awkward dynamic told The Post. “Until he gets over that and realizes he’s No. 1, it won’t work. Amar’e wants Melo to flourish. He’s focused on winning.’’

The players and Woodson were quick to blame the Cleveland disaster on complacency from having clinched a playoff spot the night before when the Bucks lost. That seemed a cover-up. This is a club that has posted pictures of the NBA championship trophy above the players’ lockers at the Garden.

Nobody is too happy with just clinching, but nobody wants to touch the Anthony-Stoudemire issue. Center Tyson Chandler came closest.

“I think Amar’e moved well, but it’s going to take some time to get back into the rhythm of what the guys are doing out there,’’ Chandler said. “I thought he looked very fluid out there.’’

Stoudemire was happy his back felt great and his shots started to fall late.

“It wasn’t about being out of rhythm,’’ he said. “Just easy shots went in and came out. I felt great all the way around, the entire game.’’

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said recently the Knicks were a far better defensive team without Stoudemire because Anthony shifted to power forward, allowing rookie stopper Iman Shumpert to slide in as a starter at shooting guard/small forward. In the new alignment, Woodson kept Shumpert starting and shooting guard Landry Fields was demoted to the bench. Fields missed his first seven shots and first three free throws.

The debacle in Cleveland dropped the Knicks record to 28-37 (including playoffs) when Anthony and Stoudemire share the stage since Anthony was acquired in February, 2011. The Knicks are 13-6 when Stoudemire doesn’t play.

Anthony is averaging 28.6 points this season with Stoudemire out. When Stoudemire plays, Anthony averages just 19.8 points.

Stoudemire pointed out at Friday’s shoot-around the chemistry issue is overblown. He said the club was 6-1 when Woodson took over and they were together.

“We’ll get back to that,’’ Stoudemire said.

But that was when Jeremy Lin had control of the point-guard position and offense. Anthony brushed off the Stoudemire Effect after Friday’s loss.

“No one has to adjust their games or anything,’’ Anthony said. “We want him to be aggressive. We want him to be Amar’e that we know of. We’ll see what happens.’’

But Anthony had scored 33, 35 and 42 points in the three games prior to his dirty dozen in Friday’s blowout loss to the league’s fourth-worst team. Numbers don’t lie.