NBA

Anthony swears at fan late in Knicks’ 5th straight loss

In the final minutes of another disastrous Knicks loss, a boisterous fan shouted at Carmelo Anthony “Nice defense, Melo.” According to an eyewitness, Anthony shot back “Go f— yourself,” drawing a reaction from other fans in the area.

After the game, a fan on Twitter wrote “Carmelo told me to F off. Huge Philly fan and I got in his head.”

Yes, the Knicks have hit rock bottom. Beleaguered coach Mike Woodson defended his defensive schemes before the game and then the Knicks continued to prove they can’t master them in a horrendous 110-106 loss at the Garden against the woeful Sixers.

The Knicks dropped their fifth straight Wednesday, falling 0-3 on their eight-game homestand as the Sixers racked up 61 points in the first half. They held off a Knicks’ charge in the fourth quarter when they took a six-point lead and then blew it.

“I’m dealing with it,’’ Anthony, who did not address any of the late-game heckling, said of the freefall that saw the Knicks record drop to 15-27. “It’s not something I’ve dealt with before, and I’m going through this experience and I’m learning from it. As a team, we got to stick together and not let anything come between us.’’

The Knicks got booed off the court in the final minute while Anthony was heckled. The only good news for Woodson’s is owner James Dolan is still in Los Angeles and will be gone through the weekend.

Anthony and Tyson Chandler have questioned the team’s strategies in recent days. Asked about Woodson’s future, Anthony remained ambivalent.

“As far as that, I haven’t heard anything,” he said. “I don’t listen to any of that stuff. Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen and it’s out of my hands.’’

Guard Evan Turner tore up the Knicks defense for 34 points as four of the Sixers’ starters scored at least 18. Meanwhile, Anthony looked disinterested for much of the night. He finished with an inflated 28 points, thanks to two late 3-pointers in the final seconds with the game out of reach. He also had seven assists and three turnovers. But Anthony had just four rebounds as the Sixers battered the Knicks, 54-39, on the glass, scoring 19 second-chance points.

“We’re 0-3 on this eight-game span,’’ Anthony said. “We really dug ourselves a hole. This was a big couple of weeks for us. The start of it right now is not looking good.’’

“Right now we are so tight,’’ Woodson said. “I thought we played great offensively, but defensively we weren’t there. We gave up 110 points and that’s too much. We gave up 92 to them [12 days ago]. To give up 110 points, you are not going to beat many teams giving up 110 points.’’

The dagger came with 1:47 left when Thaddeus Young bagged a 3-pointer with Iman Shumpert, on a switch, stumbling and not contesting the shot as the Sixers jumped ahead 105-100.

“It was a simple play, but we didn’t execute,’’ Woodson said.

“We could’ve stopped it,’’ Anthony said. “It was simple badly executed play. Situations like that, we’re not executing.’’

That breakdown goes down to the theory — propagated by Chandler — the club is switching too much. Shumpert said they switched too late on the play.

Anthony then took a quick shot from the 3-point line and hit the back iron. Turner capped his night by hitting a tough 10-footer from the left baseline with a minute left to make it 107-100 as the fans booed the rest of the way.

Within 102-100, the Knicks offense bogged down in the final two minutes, going scoreless until Anthony’s final-second 3-pointers.

The Knicks have allowed their opponents to score more than 100 points in their last five games — all losses. On one play that seemed to agitate Woodson, Chandler appeared to hesitate getting back on defense as he shouted at a referee, and center Lavoy Allen scored in transition on a layup, a step ahead of a late-arriving Chandler.

“It is like a recurring story,’’ Anthony said of losing games in the final minutes.