NBA

Carmelo nails Woodson for failure to make adjustments in rout

It felt like May if not for the snow and slush outside Bankers Life Fieldhouse as the Knicks got humiliated again by the Pacers, 117-89, Thursday night on national television.

Carmelo Anthony, rejected emphatically again by center Roy Hibbert, called the rout “embarrassing’’ and then called out Mike Woodson for not making any adjustments to counteract the Indiana onslaught.

The Pacers, with the best record in the NBA at 31-7, including 20-1 at home, outclassed the Knicks after the orange and blue built an early eight-point lead.

Anthony didn’t understand how it got away so quickly as Pacers coach Frank Vogel did all the right things after the opening period. Woodson, for his part, called it “a total team disaster.’’

Melo shot just 1 of 9 after the opening quarter and sat out the fourth to await Friday’s Garden match against the Clippers. He had little help when the Pacers collapsed on him.

“They made adjustments the way they played the pick-and-roll, the way they packed the paint and stayed with our 3-point shooters,’’ Anthony said. “They made that adjustment. We didn’t make the adjustment back to it.’’

After a brilliant 6 of 8, 18-point first quarter, Anthony ran out of gas and the Knicks’ barely defended the bigger Pacers, who took a commanding 63-48 halftime lead and sailed home in the second half.

“It’s an embarrassing loss,’’ said Anthony, who finished with 28 points. “I don’t think no team is 30 points better than us. No way I believe they’re 30 points better than us. I don’t accept that. It was a frustrating loss. You’re on the road. I felt we could’ve played a lot better and harder. This was a big game against a big-time team and we didn’t bring it.’’

It was widely reported Woodson got outcoached by Vogel last May in the second-round series loss to the Pacers. And Woodson did nothing Thursday to prove he has caught up to Vogel.

“When we went to the bench, they just hit us and we didn’t respond,’’ Woodson said. “I didn’t like that. They’re a great team, but not 30 points better. We were awful. It was a total team disaster.’’

Lance Stephenson, the Brooklyn product whom the Knicks passed on twice in the second round of the 2010 draft, again pounded his hometown team into submission scoring 17 of his career-high 28 points in the first half. Paul George added 25 points.

To add insult to injury, Stephenson scored on fast-break reverse layup with 5:29 left through his antagonist J.R. Smith, then stared down the Knicks bench. The Knicks players looked ticked. Stephenson came out after he shot the free throw and received a standing ovation.

The loss took its toll on the Knicks’ health as well, on a depressing evening that saw them fall to 6-3 in the new year and 15-24 overall.

Kenyon Martin sprained his left ankle in the first half and Amar’e Stoudemire sprained his left ankle in the third quarter. Both are expected to be out multiple games, according to Woodson.

Smith made his return to action after the Charlotte benching but made little impact, getting aggressive only when it was too late. He played 28 minutes and finished with 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Andrea Bargnani wasn’t up to the task of facing the high-energy Pacers, finishing with six points.

The déjà blue moment came with 26.9 seconds left in the first half when Anthony spun past George, soared down the right baseline and found the 7-foot-2 Hibbert waiting for him at the rim. The Pacers center blocked the shot with the same authority he did the series-turning Game 6 rimside block in last spring’s playoffs.

“He blocked it,’’ Anthony said. “He got it good. [He got] some body, but he got a good block.’’

The Pacers then scored to close out the half — Stephenson firing a pass underneath to David West for the layup and 15-point lead at the break.

The Knicks won’t be back in Indy this season unless they meet the Pacers in the playoffs. It was a virtual party in the closing minutes with the Indiana fans chanting “Reg-gie” in honor of legend Reggie Miller, doing the game on TNT, and ex-Knick Chris Copeland sinking a 3-pointer in front of Woodson in the final minutes of garbage time.

“They’re a better team than we are,’’ Stoudemire said. “On paper we’re evenly matched, but they get after it. They really ramped up their intensity and we didn’t.’’