BOSTON — With 7:20 remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 1 last night, TD Garden was in full throat, chanting its distaste for the city the Knicks represent. “New York [stinks], New York [stinks],” they chanted loud and long.
Amar’e Stoudemire, standing near the baseline, didn’t ignore their taunts. Instead, he embraced it, pointed to the lettering across his jersey in a defiant gesture that signaled the pride oozing through his uniform.
If was as if Stoudemire went back to the summer when he signed his $100 million contract and proclaimed “the Knicks are back” — back to relevance, back to the playoffs, back to battle the Celtics on their home floor.
PHOTOS: KNICKS LOSE TO CELTICS, 87-85
The Knicks lost 87-85 last night because of the Knicks’ “Big Three,” only one showed up — Stoudemire, who nearly willed his team to victory with the kind of effort that shined through even in defeat.
“Amar’e was dominant,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He’s pretty good.”
After hearing the chants of “New York [stinks],” Stoudemire went on a tear, starting with a thunderous dunk, followed by an 18-foot jump shot that splashed through nets. He followed that with a wacky under the rim 360 move for a layup that put the Knicks ahead 80-75. Another Stoudemire dunk made it 82-78 Knicks.
He was all hustle and muscle, imposing his will on the Celtics as if to prove Glen Davis was talking baby babble when he said on Saturday that Stoudemire “isn’t that hard to guard.”
Stoudemire totaled 28 points on 12-of-18 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds. If only he had some help down the stretch. One man is not going to beat the Celtics, not even in a game when they were hesitant offensively and porous defensively for much of the game.
Figuring they needed to stop Stoudemire to have a chance to win, the Celtics collapsed on him for the final minutes of the game, with Kevin Garnett sacrificing his own offense to deny Stoudemire the ball. Stoudemire did not score in the final 2:47.
“I think the last four, maybe five, possessions Garnett started denying the ball, starting forcing me baseline and not allowing me to get the ball,” Stoudemire said. “We did have a few plays where we got good positioning and just couldn’t quite score.”
That’s where the Knicks needed the other two of their Big Three. But the final basket of Chauncey Billups’ 10 points came on a three-pointer with 4:15 to play and he left with 37.3 seconds remaining with a strained knee. Carmelo Anthony, meanwhile, was mired in a shooting slump that saw him convert just 1-of-11 in the second half. It was the Celtics’ Big Three against the Knicks’ Big One.
Watching Ray Allen drain a game-winning 3-pointer with 11.6 seconds left and Anthony missing one final shot was a frustrating finish for Stoudemire and the Knicks.
“It’s a tough loss,” Stoudemire said. “Anytime you lose with two seconds left, it’s never a good feeling. We did great defensively for most of the game. We just didn’t get the win.”
The Knicks blew a chance to steal Game 1 of this series, but the Celtics got a resurgent effort from Jermaine O’Neal (6-of-6 shooting, four blocks) and clutch baskets from Allen (24 points) to do what they do best: win in the clutch. The Knicks haven’t learned how to do that yet, especially not against the Celtics.
Stoudemire has been through this before and knows the series doesn’t start until a team is beaten on its home floor. So before he left TD Garden last night, he was always focused on Game 2.
“You have to take [Game 1] and learn from it,” he said. “You can’t let this game beat us [tomorrow].”
What the Knicks learned last night is the Knicks’ “Big One” can’t beat the Celtics’ “Big Three.”
george.willis@nypost.com