TORONTO — It wasn’t a $100 million performance. Just a winning one.
Amar’e Stoudemire didn’t dominate in his Knicks debut — just when it counted.
The Knicks may have beaten one of the Eastern Conference’s worst teams last night, but they showed two refreshingly new ingredients missing far too long. Amidst a tight game in the fourth quarter, the Knicks had a new star to carry them home and a stout defense capable of making a key final-minute stop.
Stoudemire, quiet for three quarters as Wilson Chandler carried the offense, punctuated his night with a rocking fourth quarter as the Knicks squeezed out a 98-93 season-opening win over the Raptors at Air Canada Centre.
“He’s going to be a finisher,” Mike D’Antoni said. “That’s his job.”
Job well done. The Knicks, at 1-0, are above .500 for the first time since Nov. 22, 2008. Savor it because the road gets rough, with a showdown in Boston tomorrow.
After sitting out for a seven-minute stretch late in the third/early fourth, Stoudemire rocked back into a tight game, scored inside, notching seven straight points and the Knicks pulled away for a 96-88 lead with 2:40 left and held on for the win. He finished with 19 points (7-of-16) and 10 rebounds.
“My mindset was to take over,” Stoudemire said. “We didn’t want to lose this game. You want to beat the teams you’re supposed to beat.”
Chandler took his demotion from starting shooting guard to the bench personally and played like a demon. Perhaps on a drive for a contract extension, Chandler fired up 16 shots, making 10 of them, and finished with a team-high 22 points in 28 minutes. He also slowed down Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani in the second half, as he finished with just four of his 22 points in the last two quarters.
With the Knicks clinging to a 96-93 lead with 11 seconds, they capped their strong defensive showing by forcing a tough corner 3-pointer by Leandro Barbosa, who shot an airball with Chandler on top of him. Toronto shot 38.3 percent for the night.
“We got stops when we needed to, rebounds when we needed to,” Stoudemire said. “We won this defensively.”
The Knicks won despite no production out of Russian rookie starting center Timofey Mozgov, whose NBA debut was a disaster. He got into early foul trouble, picking up two in the first three minutes, leading to Chandler’s emergence from the bench. Mozgov was scoreless in 7:26.
“The reasons we want [Chandler] off the bench is not because he’s not good,” D’Antoni said. “It’s because we needed his firepower there. And we thought Timofey would have problems with fouls.”
The Knicks’ other rookie starter, Landry Fields, was solid — 11 points and four rebounds. And starting point guard Raymond Felton was (15 points, six assists, six rebounds). Chandler’s big night allowed the Knicks to survive with a quiet night from Danilo Gallinari (12 points, 3-of-9).
Chandler and backup center Ronny Turiaf came in played with energy, lifting the club early as they took a 16-point lead in the second quarter.
Turiaf blocked shots, creating havoc, took a David Anderson elbow to the jaw and the club responded. Turiaf finished with eight points and four boards and four blocks.
To close the first quarter, Turiaf corralled an offensive rebound in the paint, turned and lofted it off the backboard to give the Knicks a 29-22 lead after one quarter. They shot 50 percent in the first period and scored 20 points more than LeBron James’ Heat in its season-opening frame.
Stoudemire didn’t get the ball as much as preseason for three quarters, as the Raptors played a zone box and had two and three guys flagging him. But his turnovers were surprising.
“I don’t know if that ever happened,” Stoudemire said of his nine turnovers. “Couple of offensive fouls, loose balls out of bounds off my foot. It doesn’t happen often to me.”
Neither does an above .500 record for the Knicks.
marc.berman@nypost.com