IT’S MINE! Carmelo Anthony, who scored 14 points in his return to the lineup, battles with Klay Thompson for the ball during the Knicks embarrassing 92-63 loss to the Warriors last night. (AP)
OAKLAND — The Knicks are ready to write a new book: “How the West was Lost.’’
Carmelo Anthony’s return from a knee injury was a complete disaster and the Knicks were a complete mess last night as they began their daunting, five-game West Coast trip with a disgraceful 92-63 loss to the Warriors at The Oracle
It was the Knicks’ season low for points and they shot an embarrassing 27.4 percent (20 of 73) – an NBA low this season. The Warriors hadn’t held an opponent to 63 points or fewer since 1953.
Anthony admitted he was affected by the injury afterward, saying he was “a little sore’’ and needed treatment for an hour after the game. He said he would likely play in Denver tomorrow for his first visit to the Rocky Mountains since forcing a trade in 2010-11, but it is awful timing.
Anthony, after missing three straight games with fluid in his right knee, had no fluidity to his game, pop in his legs or rhythm to his jumper, stinking out the Bay Area with a 4-of-15 brickfest.
In 34 minutes, Anthony finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds but also spent the night out of position on defense.
“I tried to get through it and figure it out,’’ Anthony said. “I didn’t do anything since I fell (last Monday) to test it out. I took the rest. I didn’t really know how it would respond. It was nagging and agitating. I felt it out there.’’
And coach Mike Woodson felt sick. “He was a little sluggish. We expected that,” Woodson said. “We have enough bodies on this team to step up and make plays. We played one quarter tonight. That was it. That was the first quarter. We had nothing in our tank. ‘’
“We can’t use that as an excuse,’’ Woodson added. “We have enough bodes and we played well the other night without him.’’
Indeed, Tyson Chandler acknowledged the infusion of Melo put them out of sync. “Any time you implement a new player to the lineup there’s going to be a transition,’’ Chandler said of the Knicks superstar. “We obviously have a lot of games under our belt with that lineup. I don’t know what the problem was tonight.’’
Anthony played 30 minutes before being benched with 2:14 left in the third quarter and the Knicks trailing by 27 points, 74-47. Surprisingly, Woodson sent him back in with 9:16 left and a hit a 3-pointer before he was taken out for good with 5:25 left, down 24.
Asked why Woodson put him in during the rout, he said, “I was hoping maybe we can make a run.’’
Stephen Curry didn’t erupt for 54 this time, but sizzled again, scoring 26 points, making 6 of 10 3-pointers. But the depressing evening was lowlighted by J.R. Smith’s ejection with 6:51 left in the third quarter when the Knicks’ tough guy was tagged with a flagrant foul 2.
Smith belted a driving Harrison Barnes, getting him across the face. It was a nasty infraction with the club down 24 points, and referee Joey Crawford reviewed the tape and upgraded it to a flagrant 2, sending Smith to the showers for the second time in two weeks.
“I know I get fouled harder than that every night,” said Smith. “I got a target on my back. I accept it. It comes with the territory.’’
Smith was probably ticked at his 3-of-11 shooting disaster and the lovely evening by Curry and David Lee, who punished his former team with 21 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, nearly copping a triple-double.
With Amar’e Stoudemire having surgery yesterday and not available as a low-post presence, the Knicks were stagnant with not ball movement. They shot just 5 of 27 from the 3-point line. The Knicks’ leading scorer was Chris Copeland, who had 15, all in garbage time.
“We had nothing going offensively,’’ Woodson said. “It wasn’t anything they were doing. It was shots we normally make. Our pace was out of left field.’’
Anthony played all 12 minutes of the first quarter and 19:55 total in the half. He had just seven points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field, 3 of 5 from the free-throw line.
Anthony was not himself, moving stiffly, shooting poorly, defending ineptly. He left his man for switches, leaving guys open, including in the second quarter when Jarrett Jack hit a wide-open jumper on a Anthony switch.
“Any time you come off an injury, the first game is always the toughest,” Jason Kidd said about the superstar’s return.
Anthony missed the last three games with a sore/stiff knee caused by fluid buildup. He said before the game there was still a little fluid left.
Often he was matched up against Lee and didn’t seem to have the strength to post up against the burly power forward or drive the ball. Lee took Anthony to school on turnaround jumpers.
The Warriors built a commanding 50-35 lead by halftime as Curry shined again with 17 first-half points as Anthony’s return fast turned into a dud.
Curry had 54 points in a Garden loss 12 days ago and was on pace for a similar performance after scoring 11 points midway through the first quarter. His 3-pointer was soft as tissue paper again, hitting his first trey and making 5 of 7 by halftime. After calling a timeout, Woodson started yelling at Raymond Felton, presumably for not getting up closer on Curry beyond the arc.
Golden State’s sharpshooter, Klay Thompson (23 points), also made Felton look bad on one play, going for a shot fake and letting Thompson go around him for a bunny jumper.
In the prior meeting, Curry had no help from Thompson. But this time, Thompson was raining jumpers, making 3 of 4 3-pointers and hitting for 13 by halftime. Neither Lee nor center Andrew Bogut played in the first meeting. Lee was suspended for the Indiana brawl and Bogut had back spasms.
The Knicks did nothing right, outrebounded 59-42 and also going 18 of 28 from the free-throw line.
“This is definitely not how you want to start a road trip,’’ Chandler said.
They are 0-1. And counting.