They filmed scenes for an upcoming Vince Vaughn movie at halftime on the Garden court, stuntmen playing against stuntmen, shooting baskets and then shooting an oncourt fight scene.
However, it turns out that plot had to be more intriguing than the Knicks’ 108-87 snoozefest victory over the Wizards, who may be no better than the Washington Generals without John Wall.
“I feel for him,’’ Knicks coach Mike Woodson said of his former Indiana teammate and Wizards coach Randy Wittman, whose club fell to 1-13.
The Knicks leave November 11-4 — their best winning percentage for that month since 1993-94 when they were 9-2, and the most wins in November since the championship 1972-73 season. They are tied for the Nets for first place in the Atlantic Division. Even if owner James Dolan didn’t have a smile on his face as he walked with his head down, past the media, in the locker room area, he’s probably thrilled inside.
“This is a big month for us coming into the season,’’ said Carmelo Anthony, who finished with a tidy 20 points but even better dished out five assists in initiating early ball movement.
“Our goal was to get at least 10 wins for this month. Anytime you can get 10 wins in the first month, that is always big.’’
Woodson’s Knicks are 6-0 at the Garden. Since taking over the team last March, Woodson has a 17-1 regular-season record at the Garden, and will be the favorite for the Eastern Conference’s Coach of the Month Award — something a Knicks coach hasn’t won since March 1994, when Pat Riley roamed the sidelines.
“There is no reason for us to lose at home,’’ Steve Novak said. “We feel we have the greatest homecourt advantage in the whole league.’’
The Knicks are no longer even missing ailing Jason Kidd, as Spanish League warhorse Pablo Prigioni has keyed the last two wins and the club notched 24 assists to only eight turnovers — spectacular numbers. The quintessential quarterback, Prigioni logged another 25 minutes, made 2 of 3 3-pointers and finished with eight points, five assists and no turnovers.
“Pablo is a pass-first guy and players love that,’’ Woodson said. “He is everything we expected watching him this summer [in the Olympics for Argentina].’’
The win was capped by an alley-oop pass from Prigioni to J.R. Smith (20 points), who rammed it home reverse-style and blew a kiss to the crowd as he kissed November goodbye.
Prigioni’s minutes have doubled in Kidd’s absence.
“When you get minutes and you start to get in good shape … I am so happy I helped the team the last two games,’’ said Prigioni, surrounded by two dozen journalists for the first time this season. “JKidd is out so it’s important for another player to do the job with little and big things.’’
The Knicks roll on despite not having two potential starters in Iman Shumpert and Amar’e Stoudemire.
“We’re playing so well right now, you kind of forget that we don’t have Stat, Shump is out, Kidd is out,’’ Anthony said. “It goes to show you how much firepower we have. For Pablo to step up the way he is doing at the point-guard position, it’s fantastic.’’
The bored crowd started chanting center Marcus Camby’s name midway through the fourth quarter, but Camby remained on the bench, having played in six of the team’s 15 games. Woodson has complained about Camby’s conditioning but won’t place him into a game during garbage time. Yesterday, Woodson said he wants to stick with young players such as Chris Copeland and James White during those circumstances.
Anthony played just 28 minutes, secured five rebounds and shot 6 of 13 and also is a possibility for Player of the Month for November.
“I’m in a good space right now,” he said, “mentally physically, emotionally.’’
So are the Knicks.