INDIANA PASTED: Amar’s Stoudemire (right), Tyson Chandler and Carmelo Anthony stew on the bench during a 125-91 thumping by the Pacers last night. (Reuters)
INDIANAPOLIS — Mike Woodson said earlier this week he wasn’t going to “panic” over the Knicks’ disappointing showing before the NBA All-Star break — when they lost three of their last four and looked mediocre for much of January and February.
Well guess what? It’s time to panic.
At the very least it’s time to make some changes to shake the Knicks out of a slump that certainly wasn’t cured by some time away from basketball. Woodson has to do something to wake up his group of “Dead Men Walking,” something to get them to play with urgency, energy and enthusiasm.
The Knicks displayed none of that last night in losing to the Pacers 125-91 in a game where they embarrassed themselves for four quarters, looking nothing like a team with championship aspirations.
“We didn’t show up,” is how Woodson surmised the loss. “They whipped our [butt] from beginning to end.”
It was over after the first quarter, when the Knicks trailed 30-18 after going 0-for-7 from 3-point range and allowing the Pacers to shoot 61 percent from the field. By halftime the Pacers had built a stunning 74-44 lead. The second half looked like the Harlem Globetrotters playing the Washington Generals, as the Pacers, who were averaging fewer than 93 points per game coming in, led by as much as 39 and set a season-high for total points.
“We just didn’t compete,” was a phrase said by several players in the Knicks’ solemn locker room.
The Knicks looked as if they were playing with a weekend hangover, while the Pacers raced up and down the court, often finding easy layups and dunks.
One sequence that summed up this debacle came just before halftime when on a missed shot Pacers forward Paul George grabbed a long offensive rebound near the free-throw line, slipped past a sluggish Knicks defense and exploded for a flying dunk with authority.
As for the Knicks, they opened the third quarter with Carmelo Anthony missing a driving layup and Tyson Chandler blowing a point-blank follow. It didn’t get much better than that.
Of course, the Knicks handled their adversity in a dignified manner. Amar’e Stoudemire and J.R. Smith drew technical fouls in the first half, while Raymond Felton was whistled for a flagrant after pushing Pacers reserve Jeff Pendergraph in the back. Smith and his 1-for-7 shooting night (five points) was done by the end of the third quarter after receiving his second technical foul after scolding an official for not calling a foul.
“I thought we lost our composure,” Woodson said.
This was not the way the Knicks (32-19) wanted to begin their final 32 games of the regular season. The Pacers (33-21) figure to be one of the teams battling for a top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, and the Knicks looked nowhere in their league last night.
“They played liked a team and we played like a bunch of individuals and got whipped,” Chandler said.
The Knicks have now lost four of their past five games and are 14-14 since Dec. 17. It’s time for Woodson to shake things up, though the coach wouldn’t commit to anything after the game.
“I’m not talking about changes, I’ve just got to figure out how to get our team going,” Woodson said.
Making a trade before today’s 3 p.m. deadline passes certainly would shake things up. But if the Knicks stand pat, Woodson can begin by changing his starting lineup tomorrow night at Toronto. He can insert Stoudemire for Jason Kidd or Iman Shumpert in the starting lineup and find some playing time for Ronnie Brewer. Stoudemire started the second half for Shumpert last night but the game was basically over by then. Most of all, anyone who doesn’t play defense needs to get a quick hook.
“We’ll break this tape down and talk about it before we go to practice [today],” Woodson said. “Hopefully, we can get some things ironed out.”
It’s up to Woodson to fix this now before this lethargy infects the remainder of the regular season. It’s officially time to panic.
george.willis@nypost.com