NBA

Knicks stay alive; beat Pacers in Game 5

There is Cope! And hope.

The Knicks are taking this series back to Indiana — something coach Mike Woodson predicted Thursday morning in a bold “I’m-expecting-to-win’’ declaration.

Buoyed by a ferociously physical defense, a bounce-back game from J.R. Smith, 28 points from Carmelo Anthony, a big second half from Raymond Felton and popular rookie Chris Copeland’s pleasant addition to the main part of the rotation, the Knicks are alive.

They extended their second-round series with a 85-75 grind-it-out, wire-to-wire victory over the Pacers in Game 5 at the Garden Thursday night. The Knicks now trail the second-round series 3-2, with Indiana trying to close them out Saturday night in Game 6 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where the Knicks are 0-4 this season.

“We know we can play there. We know we can win there,’’ Kenyon Martin said.

If the Knicks finally can break the Indy curse, they get Game 7 back in their house Monday — with the winner meeting Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals.

“I think we played with a sense of urgency, knowing what was at stake, facing elimination on our home court,’’ Anthony said. “We played like we really wanted it. This is probably the best game we’ve played throughout the whole series as for effort. One of those nights we had to will ourselves to win and did that.’’

Anthony got hot from mid-range in the first half and in the low post in the second half. The numbers weren’t superb (12 of 28 shooting) but when the Knicks needed a big low-post basket down the stretch, he provided it. The Knicks offense still is not up to snuff. They shot 41 percent.

“We can’t find our shots but we’re still going to take those shots,’’ Anthony said. “We’re still confident from that aspect. We didn’t shoot the ball very well, but we made shots at the critical times and controlled the game.’’

Smith had a hot start, and finished with 13 points, three steals, six rebounds and two assists, playing lively on both ends in a take-that-Rihanna performance. Fittingly, Smith dribbled out the final 14 seconds as the crowd roared. After a 3 of 5 first half, Smith wound up just 4 of 11.

It’s a start as he battles to emerge from his massive slump — with an Instagram attack on his partying lifestyle from Rihanna one more distraction.

“I still didn’t shoot my best, but hopefully the little bit of rhythm I did get carries over,” Smith said.

“I’m not worrying about Instagram,’’ he added, breaking out in a smile. “I’m worrying about the playoffs.’’

“It was encouraging to see J.R. just play basketball and put everything to the side at this point,’’ Anthony said. “I love to see him focus in on the task at hand.’’

And then there’s Copeland, who played 19 energetic minutes, scored 13 points. He made 4 of 6 shots, including three 3-pointers, and grabbed four rebounds. Copeland’s presence spaced the floor and the Knicks did much better on the boards, losing just 43-40.

Woodson made some hard decisions with his rotation that were all crowd-pleasers. He went back to the small-ball starting lineup that included Pablo Prigioni. He benched Amar’e Stoudemire and the struggling Jason Kidd in the second half and rode Copeland, the rookie from the Belgian league.

“Our defense has been great throughout the whole playoffs,’’ Woodson said. “The offense has spurted at times, but it was our defense. We didn’t give up a lot of second-chance buckets, which made it tough for them to score.’’

The Knicks also neutralized Pacers center Roy Hibbert, who had dominated both ends previously. Hibbert had just nine points in a foul-plagued night. The Knicks held the Pacers to 36.2 percent as Indiana badly missed starting point guard George Hill (concussion). That paved the way for Felton’s sassy final two quarters when he scored 12 of his 14 points and hauled in four offensive boards.

The only measure of concern was Tyson Chandler, who hurt his back and knee with a late tumble and left the court in the final minute for the locker room. He said he’s sore, but will play Saturday.

Chandler inflicted damage on one statement play, clobbering Lance Stephenson in the first half when the Brooklyn product wound up for a dunk.

“I probably won’t get the best night’s sleep,’’ Chandler said.

But all of Knickville will.

marc.berman@nypost.com