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BOSTON — J.R. Smith was suspended and not permitted inside the TD Garden yesterday. Carmelo Anthony’s jump shot was suspended, too, lost in some mysterious twilight zone.
Like Smith, Anthony failed to show up and the Knicks failed to sweep the Celtics.
Almost everyone but Anthony stepped up in Smith’s absence as the Knicks rallied from 20 points down to take the Celtics to overtime, but Melo’s shooting yips were too much to overcome. The Celtics are alive — at least until Wednesday — avoiding the broom and netting Game 4, 97-90.
The Knicks lead the first-round series, 3-1, and play Game 5 Wednesday at the Garden.
They go back home to, as Tyson Chandler boasted, “Finish the job.’’
The Knicks didn’t finish it off yesterday on the parquet because Anthony couldn’t throw the ball into Boston Harbor, seemingly frazzled without his trusty sidekick, Smith, to take the burden off him. He finished a disastrous 10 of 35 from the field, including 0-for-7 from 3-point range, with seven turnovers.
Anthony wound up with 36 points as he sank 16 of 20 free throws. He resorted to driving the ball at all costs since he couldn’t find his jumper.
“As far as J.R. goes, we missed him, I missed him,’’ Anthony said. “But J.R. not being out there didn’t change how I shot the basketball today. Those shots I’ve taken all series. They weren’t falling tonight. My mama always said there were [going to be] days like this.’’
It was Anthony’s worst day since he returned in late March from a knee-drainage procedure. But not having Smith changed the balance of the offense, as Smith wasn’t there to play Robin to Anthony’s Batman. The Knicks shot 34.4 percent — 23.3 percent from beyond the 3-point line — and Anthony often tried to do too much without looking for his mates.
“I was trying to win the basketball game,’’ Anthony said. “It would’ve been a great feeling to close it out in Boston. I was trying to do whatever I could to win the basketball game. I was trying to be aggressive. I missed a ton of shots. I didn’t shoot the ball well. Defensively we were still there.
“We look forward to Wednesday, I’ll tell you that.’’
Fittingly, Smith’s elbow victim, Jason Terry, became Boston’s hero, scoring the Celtics’ final nine points in the last 1:32 of overtime to close out the Knicks and set up Game 5.
Wasted were hearty efforts by Raymond Felton (27 points, three steals) and a big second half from Iman Shumpert (12 points, 12 rebounds, two steals).
“That’s where we’re comfortable at,’’ Felton said of the series returning to MSG. “We’re going back home to our comfort zone. We did our job, came here and got ourselves a win. We’d like to have both games, but that was our goal [a split].’’
Terry, who was clocked in the face by Smith’s elbow Friday in Game 3, broke the tie for good, pulling up on a fastbreak to swish a 3-pointer with 1:32 left to make it 91-88. Terry hit another pullup jumper to put the Celtics ahead 93-90 with 1:03 left.
Inbounding with 28.8 seconds left, down three, the Knicks weren’t dead yet. Anthony hit back iron on a 3-pointer. Steve Novak, in the game for his 3-point shooting, fouled Terry on the rebound battle and that was all.
“At the end of the day, you’re going to live and die with your go-to guy,’’ Felton said. “When the game was on the line, you’re going to give the ball to No. 7.
“They have a lot of pride. They didn’t want to get swept.’’
The Knicks didn’t have their first lead until 1:17 left in regulation, when Felton banged in a 20-footer. With a chance to win it in the final seconds, Anthony missed twice. He clanked a 3-pointer, but Chandler (11 rebounds) tapped it back. Anthony dribbled down the shot-clock and misfired again, making him 9 of 31. Garnett rebounded and the Celtics called timeout with 18 seconds left, but Paul Pierce (29 points) missed at the buzzer.
“We obviously missed J.R., but we still had our shots,’’ Chandler said. “We had seven bench points, but all that said we had an opportunity to win.’’
Anthony was 4 of 14 in the fourth quarter and OT.
“We shot 34 percent from the field and still put ourselves in position to win,’’ Anthony said. “There’s an upside to that.’’
The Sixth Man Award winner is back on Wednesday. That probably is upside enough.