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ORLANDO, Fla. — Fear us.
That’s the message the Knicks delivered in Miami on a star-filled Sunday night, when their
Big 2 officially tranformed into their own Big 3.
That’s the message the Knicks delivered when LeBron James drove on Carmelo Anthony in the final seconds, and Amar’e Stoudemire swept over for a block heard all the way to Key West.
That’s the message the Knicks delivered when the cold-blooded Chauncey Billups drained a 28-footer from the deep right wing with 1:01 left that gave the Knicks a lead, and a huge boost of confidence.
Mr. Big Shot, Mr. Big Swat and Mr. Melo were too much for Miami’s Dream Team of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, fueling the specter of a special basketball spring in New York. The Knicks and Heat split four games this season, with Stoudemire’s team taking the last two.
“I think we sent the message before [against Boston] when Paul Pierce said the Knicks have arrived,” Stoudemire said. “That was the first message to the world that the Knicks are back. With the win [Sunday] night over Miami, it kind of topped it off.”
The Knicks can send more postcards from Florida tonight when they face Dwight Howard’s Magic, a potential first-round foe, at Amway Center.
One week after the Anthony blockbuster, the Knicks recorded the type of defensive victory that can forever change their psyche, confidence and identity. At least it erased Friday’s stench from Cleveland.
“At this point of the season, we haven’t been together a week, we couldn’t have gotten a bigger win,” Billups said. “That team is one of the best teams in basketball. They’re especially good at home. We haven’t been together long at all. We’re looking at a lot of defensive concepts we need to master. For us to go in there and hold that team to what we did is a really big step for us.”
Eighty-six points against, and a 13-2 run to finish the game. If they can carry that defensive fortitude across the final 25 games, the Knicks will be a dangerous club come playoff time, certainly a team James does not want to see in the postseason.
“We play defense like that, we’re doing it out of wanting to win, out of willpower,” Stoudemire said. “Once we get the strategy down and really know our personnel and rotations, it will be much better.”
James had no words for Stoudemire after the buzzer. James also walked off the court without talking to Anthony, whom he hugged like a brother before tip-off. Anthony has always had success against James, dating to their high school days.
“He didn’t say anything, he’s more friends with Carmelo than me,” said Stoudemire, whom James decided against joining in New York. “On the court it’s strictly mano a mano.”
“I don’t think a lot of people thought we’d win that game,” Anthony said. “Let’s just be honest about it. Nobody thought we’d win the game. For us to bounce back after the game in Cleveland, giving that game up, to play one of the best teams in the NBA and do it in the fashion we did it in, to hold them to 86 points, that was impressive for us.”
After the defensive meltdown against the Cavs, the Knicks preached patience to build chemistry, camaraderie and defensive communication. Beating the Heat has at least built up their ego.
Tonight in Orlando and tomorrow’s Garden match against the Hornets start a frenetic stretch of 18 games in March.
“It’s a definite confidence-builder when you make plays down the stretch,” Stoudemire said. “They say great players make great plays. Melo made some great shots, Chauncey made a great shot and I was able to follow with a block.”
Considering the Knicks have been out of the race at this point the prior five seasons, this goes down as arguably the biggest regular-season win since 2004-2005 — their last playoff season.
“That was big for us,” Anthony said, “as far as confidence builders to know we can do it. The good thing is we know we can do it. There’s no doubts about that. Defense is a continuous effort. We can become that team that’s known for being aggressive on the defensive end.”
marc.berman@nypost.com