REVENGE OF THE SIXTH: Clippers’ sixth man and ex-Knick Jamal Crawford puts up a shot over Raymond Felton on his way to a team-high 27 points. (Paul J. Bereswill)
Exposed.
For the first time all season, the Knicks looked outclassed and outmanned.
Carmelo Anthony finished with 42 points, but the super-deep Clippers led by point guard Chris Paul repelled the Knicks’ second-half comeback. The Clippers posted an emphatic 102-88 Garden-matinee thumping in their season’s first meeting with the Knicks. Only one team looked championship-calibre — and it wasn’t Mike Woodson’s.
“We know we can beat them, we’ve beaten teams like that before,’’ Anthony said. “Today we just couldn’t get over the hump. Those guys got some hustle plays, made shots and it opened the game up. We had our spurts but we didn’t put a complete game together.’’
Anthony kept them in it on his own, carrying 38 points into the fourth quarter. He quieted down in the final period, scoring just four points as another Clippers’ bench member, veteran Grant Hill, slowed him down. And nobody could pick up the slack for Anthony.
The Clippers (36-17) began the quarter on a 19-8 game-sealing run. The Knicks had rallied from 13 points down to within one point, 71-70, after three quarters behind Anthony’s 18 third-quarter points, which included four 3-pointers.
Woodson blamed himself for taking Anthony out to start the fourth quarter because he cooled off upon his return three minutes into the quarter. But Anthony said Woodson made the right move.
“I don’t know if he wanted me to play the whole 48,’’ Anthony said.
“Very disappointing,’’ Tyson Chandler said. “When he gets it going, we have to continue to feed him, but we got to make sure everybody is involved.’’
The Knicks had beaten Miami and San Antonio twice in statement wins and lost three hard-fought games with the Bulls. But the Knicks yesterday didn’t seem to have the weapons to compete with the Western powers.
The Knicks talk about winning a title this year, but that sure looked distant yesterday.
The Clippers’ superior depth was highlighted by the domination in the battle between Sixth Man of the Year candidates as ex-Knick Jamal Crawford absolutely destroyed J.R. Smith. The Clippers’ bench outscored the Knicks’ reputed bench 48-15.
“Their bench has been good for them and our bench [had] been good for us,’’ Woodson said. “That was the difference today. We have to get them to feel good about themselves defensively because [our bench] can score the ball as well as their second unit can.’’
Paul was impressive in just his second game back from an injured kneecap, scoring 25 points — dashing into the lane for floaters and hitting mid-range jumpers — and adding seven assists and six rebounds. It was Paul’s first game at the Garden in nearly two years. Blake Griffin soared for 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Paul outdid Raymond Felton down the stretch after the Knicks point guard suffered a neck injury late in the third quarter and didn’t seem 100 percent. Paul hit a huge bucket with 2:15 left, getting in the lane on Felton, scoring on a runner and getting fouled to put Los Angeles up eight. Paul missed the free throw, but Felton came down and had his driving layup blocked by Griffin. Paul scored again on a runner in the lane with 1:40 left to put L.A. up 97-86. Ball game.
Always a fan of the Garden, Crawford collected 27 points (12 of 22) as Smith had one of his season’s worst games, shooting 1-of-9 for six points. Smith was invisible after the game, too, not making himself available to reporters.
The Clippers guards — Paul, Crawford, Eric Bledsoe and Chauncey Bilups — totaled 73 points.
“There wasn’t a problem,’’ said Felton, who finished with 20 points but with four turnovers. “They have some good guards. We played good defense. They hit a lot of tough shots.’’
Amar’e Stoudemire’s low-post act got a little stale yesterday, too, as he came off the bench and supplied just nine points in 25 minutes. Iman Shumpert, assigned to Paul at the start, wasn’t effective as his slump continued. Shumpert had two points in 21 minutes.
“[Anthony] was off the charts, but we definitely have to chip in and do the right thing as far as making the open shot,’’ Shumpert said. “When he and Amar’e attract double teams we have to make sure when we get those looks we make them.’’
When Anthony was stifled, it was over.
“He denied,’’ Anthony said of Hill. “I heard [Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro] yelling, ‘Don’t let him catch it, make it tough.’ They made an adjustment.’’
There were no adjustments for the Knicks to make. Maybe because they simply aren’t good enough to make them.
marc.berman@nypost.com