NBA

Knicks season tix sell out for 3rd straight year

The metropolitan area still is recovering from Hurricane Sandy, but the Knicks had a sell-out crowd of 19,033 with very few no-shows for last night’s 104-84 opening-night victory over the Heat, which extended their sellout streak to 67 games.

During yesterday’s earnings conference call, it was revealed season tickets have sold out for the third straight year despite an average ticket price hike of 4.9 percent. Last season was the first time the Knicks sold out season tickets since 2001-02.

The Knicks credited the season-ticket sellout to new amenities from the second phase of the MSG transformation — a new upper deck. The locked-out Rangers also sold out of season tickets, according to their corporate earnings report.

“We got the best fans in basketball,’’ Woodson said before tipoff. “Hopefully it will be a sellout. That means some of those people were able to get away from all the things around us.’’

They did.

* The Garden announced it was donating $500,000 to Hurricane Relief efforts and will host a telethon on MSG Network on Nov..9 during the Knicks-Mavericks game. Part of the donation will go to the Red Cross and the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. … Rasheed Wallacemade his debut in garbage time after the fans chanted his name. Woodson immediately turned to Wallace on the bench and he came in, drilling a 3-pointer. … Marcus Camby did not play. Woodson thought the veteran center had not gone through enough contact drills, though he practiced the previous few days.

* LeBron James said the Knicks fed off the Garden energy.

“The Knicks fed off not only the city, the fans, everything that’s been going on and it’s a good win for them,’’ James said. “I understand we’ve got a lot more games left, but it’s always good to see how resilient people are in the wake of disaster. I’ve been watching the news since I got here, but I just want to let them know we’re thinking about them.”