INDIANAPOLIS — Did Kenyon Martin also party with Rihanna?
No, but Martin has caught J.R. Smith’s flu. Smith and Martin missed yesterday’s practice at Bankers Life Field House to rest at the hotel and Knicks coach Mike Woodson is worried about the bug spreading.
Smith came down with a virus Friday night, had a 102-degree fever Saturday and played at less-than-full-strength in the Knicks’ 82-71 Game 3 loss to the Pacers. Smith shot 4 of 12, scored nine points, had low energy on defense and looked like a zombie on the bench.
“Kenyon is kind of coming down with it too,’’ Woodson said. “So we got to be careful this doesn’t spread and other guys start dropping. So we kept them back in the hotel.’’
Martin played 20 minutes Saturday, scoring eight points with seven rebounds. His minutes dropped slightly to make room for Amar’e Stoudemire’s grand return.
Despite Smith’s viral infection, Woodson played him nearly 25 minutes. After the game, Smith, sounding congested, but said he definitely will play in Game 4 tomorrow as the Knicks’ medical staff will infuse him with a slew of antibiotic medications.
“It was so-so,’’ Woodson said of Smith’s Game 3 performance. “You expect that. That’s why I didn’t play him a whole lot of minutes. … We got to hope the next two days he gets some energy back. We desperately need his offense.If I can’t get it, we have to keep mixing and matching and trying to find it.’’
Smith, who was linked to clubbing with Rihanna last week, hasn’t used his controversial twitter account since May 6 — perhaps on advice from the Knicks. Smith last week tweeted a form to allow fans to jump off the team’s bandwagon.
Smith averaged 18.1 points and 5.3 rebounds to win the NBA’s Sixth Man Award. In the playoffs, though, he is shooting 33.9 percent — lowest among remaining players who play 25-plus minutes. He is shooting 19 of 69 in his last five games since returning from a suspension.
* Everything went wrong Saturday but Woodson was disturbed greatly by the Knicks’ failure to defend the 3-point line and grab defensive rebounds.
“[The Pacers’] 3s and putbacks was the difference in the game,’’ Woodson said. “Those are things we can clean up. We didn’t give up 3s on bad rotations in Game 2. We had slippage in that area. And it’s a matter of individuals blocking out and wanting the ball.
“[The Pacers] wanted it a little bit more [on Saturday].”
* Jason Kidd is now scoreless for seven straight games, going 0-for-14 — and 0-for-9 on 3-pointers.Woodson still has lots of relatives in Indianapolis. and owns a Southern-cuisine restaurant he took the team to during the regular season.
* Woodson, back in his native Indianapolis, began his press briefing: “Shout out to all the mothers. My mother’s no longer around, but happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers.’’