The Knicks’ whole game went to pot Sunday. No heart. No effort. No smarts. And a terribly rusty version of J.R. Smith.
Carmelo Anthony twice called the performance “embarrassing.” Coach Mike Woodson, who heard his first derogatory chants, admitted the team showed no pride and the effort was “unacceptable.’’
After the 120-89 matinee massacre by the powerful Spurs in which the the Knicks fell behind by 37 points, give the Knicks an F. Or a D for disgraceful after being booed throughout the afternoon by an angry Garden crowd.
There was a light, brief “Fire Woodson’’ chant early in the fourth quarter when the Knicks fell behind by 30 points. Woodson had his usual postgame meeting with James Dolan, but sources insist nothing is going on.And another small group of fans bellowed “Need new coach.’’
“It was embarrassing coming on our homecourt and losing a game like this,’’ Anthony said. “It wasn’t about losing the game it was about how we lost the game. We didn’t compete today.’’
Smith, making his season debut after sitting out a five-game suspension for failing three marijuana tests, looked like he hadn’t played basketball in two years. He shot 1-for-9 with four turnovers in 20:33, finishing with five points.
Before tipoff, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said despite his team’s 5-1 start, the defending Western Conference champions were playing “C-plus, B-minus basketball.”
The only B standing for the Knicks is Basement. The Knicks now share the Atlantic Division cellar with the Nets at 2-4. New York City certainly has not been the mecca of basketball in November.
The Nets’ poor start is the only thing keeping owner James Dolan from jumping off the Garden bridge. He was present with his wife in his baseline seat and stayed for the duration.
“This city and this organization is not known for being patient,’’ Anthony said. “Right now we have to figure it out. If patience is the way to go, patience is the way it has to be. There’s no panic button being pushed. We got to figure it out.’’
For comic relief, Metta World Peace said he hopes the Knicks will be more prepared if they see the Spurs in The Finals. And he was serious.
The Knicks’ awful play began even before Smith checked into the game with 7:08 left in the first quarter. The Knicks fell behind 10-0 to start the game and 14-4 when he checked in. This time, the Knicks missed injured Tyson Chandler desperately. The Knicks were 6-0 at this stage last season and now are 1-3 at the transformed Garden.
“I haven’t watched many games like that,’’ Woodson said. “We didn’t compete tonight and that’s just unacceptable. You should feel good about playing at home in front of your fans. They pay their hard-earned money to watch us play and we should give them something to play for.’’
The Spurs scored the game’s first 10 points — behind two 3-pointers by Long Island’s Danny Green (24 points) — and San Antonio led 35-19 after one period. San Antonio shot 72.2 percent in the period (13 of 18).
“It was embarrassing — on our homecourt,’’ Anthony said. “We didn’t have it [Sunday] and they exploited that. They played harder and they played better.
“We had our discussion and we responded the other night in great fashion,’’ Anthony added regarding his player-only meeting Tuesday. “Today we didn’t respond well. The Spurs did everything right and everything they wanted to do on the court on both ends.’’
Andrea Bargnani, after being Friday’s hero, didn’t grab a rebound until late in the third quarter and finished with one on the day in 26 minutes. The Spurs crushed the Knicks on the boards 51-33.
“They just kept running their plays for 48 minutes,’’ said Bargnani, who finished with 16 points. “They kept moving the ball and keep cutting to the bucket. They’re really good playing without the ball. Everyone of their five players is good cutting to the basket.’’
Bargnani finished with 16 points (5 of 10). Anthony also finished with just 16 points, but at least had eight rebounds.
Anthony sounded morose, but tried to suggest he’s confident they will turn this around. His team meeting only worked for one night — Friday in Charlotte.
“I have to remain very confident, very positive in the locker room. Hopefully teammates will rub off on it. If not they follow my lead. If I’m being negative, they’ll be negative and moping around. We can’t have that. Not right now it’s easy to go to that place.’’
Point guard Tony Parker outdid Raymond Felton, who had a rough 3-of-10 outing. The French superstar point guard also embarrassed Iman Shumpert (1 of 5) on a stutter-step dribble and raced to the hole for an easy layup.
Smith received a big ovation before he started getting booed after a couple of airballs and errant passes. Smith claimed he wasn’t rusty. Smith said he just stunk — just like all the Knicks stunk like burning weed.