MILWAUKEE — Baron Davis didn’t want to come out.
The 32-year-old Knicks point guard, who is battling knee, neck and hamstring injuries, has continued telling coach Mike Woodson he is going to play through the pain, doing whatever he can to help the team get into the playoffs.
But after last night’s 111-107 win over the Bucks at the Bradley Center, Davis told The Post “he couldn’t move” and was “feeling off,” prompting Woodson to remove the veteran midway through the third quarter, after he totaled five points with three assists and five turnovers in 19-plus minutes.
Without their starting point guard, Woodson found reliability in rookie Iman Shumpert. Immediately bringing a huge defensive upgrade against speedy guards Brandon Jennings and Monta Elllis, Shumpert also became the primary ball-handler the rest of the game, putting up 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals. Just as importantly, he committed only one turnover in a game-high 42-plus minutes.
“The rook didn’t get any time off the second half, so I know he’s beat up after tonight’s game but I needed to get this game,” Woodson said. “It was important for our team.”
Davis had started the past seven games in Jeremy Lin’s absence, but is unable to display more than a fraction of his former self. For most of last night, the Knicks’ point guard problems were as prevalent as ever and appeared to be an issue that wouldn’t be resolved until, or rather, unless Lin returned, but with Shumpert leading the offense, the Knicks committed just one turnover in the fourth quarter.
Shumpert said he was willing to do whatever was necessary to get the win, whatever is necessary to get the Knicks to the playoffs.
“I just knew we needed this win,” Shumpert said. “I was just going to go hard every play. I’ve always been comfortable handling the ball. We understand, the guards on the team, that our roles are going to switch at any given time, depending on who is hot. We all can do so much and we’re all ready to do everything. Everything’s about winning now.”
Through three quarters, the Knicks committed 16 turnovers and had six different players assume ball-handling responsibilities, with the former high-powered offense relegated to a slew of isolation plays, primarily for Carmelo Anthony, who carried the team with 32 points. The Knicks capitalized off the offensive carelessness and defensive indifference of the Bucks, but showed little cohesiveness, with the guards displaying as much imagination as a network sitcom.
Woodson had relied on Davis to play through the pain, but the point guard’s increasing discomfort forced Woodson’s hand, with the coach unwilling to play Mike Bibby much more than nine first-half minutes or remove Toney Douglas from the bench at all.
“I feel comfortable with [Shumpert] handling the basketball and getting us into things,” Woodson said. “It makes us bigger and we can switch more defensively.”
howard.kussoy@nypost.com