Next stop, South Beach.
The Knicks extended their winning streak to a season-high eight games last night with an early 3-point barrage and went on to a 108-89 victory over the Celtics at the Garden.
They will carry the league’s longest current win streak into Miami for tomorrow’s showdown against the defending champions, whose 27-game win streak was snapped last week.
The Knicks took the season series against the Celtics, 3-1, and can capture the season series against the Heat by the same count with a triumph tomorrow. They have won two of their three meetings with Miami, but those wins came in November and December.
“Anytime you can take three out of four wins against a team like Miami or Boston, that’s always good,’’ Carmelo Anthony said.
The Knicks shot 11 of 16 from 3-point land in the first half to highlight the rout. Anthony finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds. J.R. Smith added 15 points off the bench with 12 rebounds and four assists, as his streak of three straight 30-plus games ended.
Raymond Felton had 18 points, including a half-court, halftime buzzer-beating heave that electrified the Garden, and rookie Chris Copeland added 22 for good measure.
This marks the first time the Knicks took the season series from Boston since 2003-04, and it was their second blowout win over the Celtics in five days.
The Knicks and Celtics could meet in the first round of the playoffs as the two-seven matchup. The Knicks (46-26) are tied with the Pacers for second in the East nd lead the Nets by 4 1/2 games in the Atlantic.
“We beat Miami one time without Melo, but Miami is playing at such a high level than when we played them back then, it’s not funny,’’ coach Mike Woodson said before last night’s win. “It will be interesting to see where we stand, but I’d like to see where we stand if we had a full deck. If that’s going to happen, I don’t know.’’
The Heat, perhaps in retaliation for San Antonio famously sending all their star players home before a game in Miami, sat LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Mario Chalmers last night in their victory over the Spurs for alleged minor injuries.
When asked if the trio would play against the Knicks, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said, “We will have to see who is available.”
Anthony said he’s not worried about whether the Heat play their JV or not.
“We’ll see what happens,’’ Anthony said. “I am not [coach] Spoelstra. If he plays them, he plays them. If they don’t, they don’t. We still have to go out and worry about ourselves than worry about who’s on the other team. It don’t matter who they put out there.’’
Woodson added, “I can’t worry about what they are going to do. I have to worry about our team. We’ve seen them enough.’’
The Knicks hope big men Kenyon Martin and center Tyson Chandler are available. Martin left in the second quarter last night with a strained left abdominal muscle after tipping a rebound. He started the second half, but was removed in the fourth quarter because of the injury.
However, Martin and Woodson both said Martin could have played if needed, and was just resting for the Heat. Chandler, meanwhile, will test his neck during drills today and see if he’s ready to return from a 10-game absence.
After the game, the players returned to the locker room, in which the number “50’’ was scrawled in big numbers on the greaseboard — authored by injured Rasheed Wallace during the contest. The Knicks moved to 46-26 and haven’t won 50 games since the 1999-2000 season. They need to go just 4-6 to do that.
“That was our goal,’’ Anthony said. “It’s very doable for us — 50 wins — and is always a great thing in this league to accomplish.’’
The Knicks rang up 11 3-pointers in the first half on 16 attempts, including Felton’s half-court 49-foot prayer off the glass. That gave them a 65-48 lead at halftime and Felton’s desperation heave on the run even brought a smile to Woodson’s face as he walked off the court.
The Knicks finished March at 12-6 — a month that once looked ominous. If they also finish above .500 in April, it will mark the first time since 1996-97 they will have had winning records for each month of the season.
“A great month,’’ Anthony said of March.
Now April could begin in a big way, too.