BOSTON — At least the Knicks didn’t humiliate themselves for four quarters as they did Sunday against the Celtics in a 41-point loss. Friday, they only embarrassed themselves in the final 10 minutes.
The Knicks blew an 11-point lead in the final 10:32, scoring seven points the rest of the way in another late-game choke as the first-place Celtics rallied for a 90-86 victory at TD Garden.
The Knicks shot a brutal 5-of-19 in the fourth quarter, playing like a tight team wracked by Kyle Lowry trade reports and rumors of coach Mike Woodson’s future. They fell 3¹/₂ games behind the Celtics in the Atlantic Division.
In what is becoming par for the course, Carmelo Anthony didn’t close. He notched 26 points, but only six after halftime. He went stone cold in the final minutes — which has become commonplace — and finished shooting 9-of-24, making just 1-of-8 in the fourth quarter.
The Knicks shot 40 percent overall as they fell to 6-16.
“We didn’t get it done,’’ Anthony said. “No excuses — 22-13 in the fourth.’’
It was a bizarre night for J.R. Smith, who took just one shot in 26:17 in what appeared to be either a boycott or an attempt to get out of his rut by doing something different. He didn’t loft a shot until 5:15 left — a bricked 3-pointer.
“I was going into the game trying to make opportunities for my teammates to excel,’’ Smith said. “We need playmakers more than just scorers. My job is to get my teammates the easiest buckets we can and we’re not getting those. So I took it upon myself to sacrifice my shot to get other guys going. And it might not be the right way. I don’t know. Just trying to figure this out.’’
Amar’e Stoudemire continued his emergence with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, but revealed after the game he wouldn’t complete the back-to-back and will be rested by the medical staff for Saturday’s Garden rematch against Atlanta. It would have been the fourth game in five nights, and after playing 30:17 in Boston, the risk was considered too great.
With Kenyon Martin felled by an abdominal strain in the second half and possibly out as well, the Knicks are going to be short on big men Saturday.
“When it rains,’’ Martin said, “it pours.’’
After Anthony scored on a hard-driving layup, the Knicks were up 83-81 with 4:06 left, but he didn’t score again and had no late help.
“We don’t take any moral victories,’’ Stoudemire said. “This is a game we should’ve won. We’re a veteran team and we should know how to win games down the stretch.’’
Andrea Bargnani had a solid first three quarters and finished with 22 points, but he also missed three straight shots midway through the fourth and Woodson was upset he passed on a couple of late open looks.
Anthony said he wished he had some late-game assistance, perhaps singling out Smith and Bargnani.
“We got to get better in those situation, we all do, coming down the stretch and step up to those challenges,’’ Anthony said. “Not every night I’m going to bail us out.’’
The Knicks fell behind by 17 points in the second quarter, but made a strong comeback behind Anthony’s 20 first-half points. Anthony said he became more “a decoy’’ in the third quarter as the Knicks took a 61-59 lead midway through the period on a Martin dunk. But Anthony never got back his rhythm and Smith never decided to shoot.
“I don’t know what that’s about,’’ Woodson said. “He didn’t take many shots and Iman [Shumpert] was just 1 of 8. I just got to get my [shooting guards] working because they are struggling.’’
Boston’s Vitor Faverani scored on a layup off a bullet pass from Jordan Crawford to put Boston up by four points with 55 seconds left. Bargani hit a short jumper to make it a two-point game, but Jeff Green barreled to the hole for a layup and got fouled with nine seconds left, all but icing it. Anthony’s off-balance shot from the top of the key missed the entire rim in the closing seconds.
“It’s tough,’’ Anthony said. “What are we going to do — stop playing, stop fighting, stop believing?’’