NBA

Stoudemire, Anthony struggling for chemistry with Knicks

Who would have thought the best work by the Knicks’ “Broadway Bigs” in California would come from the starting trio of center Tyson Chandler, rookie power forward Josh Harrellson and small forward Carmelo Anthony?

As the Knicks return home from a confusing 1-2 road trip to face the Raptors (1-2) tonight, the issue of whether Amar’e Stoudemire and Anthony can gel offensively has grown larger.

Nobody needed a full training camp and slate of preseason games more than ‘Melo and ‘Mare — two All-Stars who must cope with finding a balance because of their too-similar offensive games.

With Stoudemire missing Saturday’s California-trip finale in Sacramento because of a sprained left ankle, coach Mike D’Antoni’s speedball offense jumped from putrid to unstoppable with Harrellson plugged in at starting power forward.

The 114-92 victory made no sense. And it made all the sense in the world.

As the Knicks soared, their captain was back in the locker room, getting treatment for his ankle. There isn’t a question that for the Knicks to be title contenders, they will need Stoudemire and Anthony to play like All-Stars at the same time.

If it doesn’t happen this season, the Knicks will likely next summer try to trade Stoudemire for a prime point guard or shooting guard if his uninsured contract allows.

When Stoudemire played in blowout losses against Golden State and the Lakers, the ball moved poorly, the spacing was lousy and the club resorted to selfish play, none worse than Stoudemire’s. Trying to score through triple-teams too frequently, he shot a combined 9 of 31 with eight turnovers and zero assists.

Stoudemire is listed as questionable, and after Saturday’s flawless team performance, there is no need to rush Stoudemire back if he is not 100 percent.

After the victory, D’Antoni was asked if the ball doesn’t move as well with Stoudemire and Anthony paired together.

“Could be. But that doesn’t matter. We’ll get over that,” he said. “We’ll all get the ball. It’s a natural kind of thing. We’ve already talked about it as a group. We put A’mare and Melo on a team that the ball hums, then you’ve got gold. That’s our objective. That’s where we got to get.”

They are not there yet. Harrellson’s addition to the lineup, oddly, changed the dynamics. Landry Fields looked like his rookie-year apex, shot out of a cannon. He scored 21 points.

Maligned point guard Toney Douglas collected eight assists, made 4 of 6 3-pointers and quieted the clamor for injured Baron Davis. For the first time in his Knicks career, Chandler was a rim-rocker, working the pick-and-roll with Douglas and notching a season-high 22 points. Anthony scored whenever they needed a bucket and was mostly a smooth facilitator, notching 23 points with five assists.

Harrellson filled in ably with rugged defense, shot the ball sweetly from the 3-point line (4 of 8), and finished with a double-double — 14 points, 12 rebounds — in his first NBA start.

Anthony and Stoudemire have not always looked fully comfortable on the court together. The Knicks were 14-18 last season after the trade, including the four-game playoff loss to Boston. Often, Stoudemire flourished when Anthony was on the bench.

The smartest thing ex-team president Isiah Thomas ever said was that you can obtain all the talent, but if they don’t have chemistry, it’s for naught. And chemistry is a crap shoot, according to Thomas.

“We got two guys who can carry the load at the end of the game,” Chandler said. “We got to concentrate on getting them the ball in the flow of the offense. The first couple of games we concentrated so hard feeding them. It’s unfair to them because they’re looking at three defenders in a game. If it’s like [Saturday], with things are so spread out, they’re ready to go off. It’s easier to get off 1-on-1 than 1-on-3.

With Stoudemire injured, Chandler appeared much looser on offense. Chandler is taking Stoudemire’s former duties as the chief pick-and-roll guy. That has forced Stoudemire into a perimeter role as a 3-point shooter. Stoudemire has boasted of adding the 3-point bomb to his repertoire, but it’s hardly his bread and butter.

I’m really trying to get rhythm with my guards, trying to get my guards used to playing with me, throwing the ball up to the basket,” Chandler said. “If we can get that going, we can make things easier for Amar’e and Melo. It shouldn’t be so hard for them when other teams just load up and they’re seeing three guys. If we can get them 1-on-1 and play basketball like we did [Saturday night], it’s a nightmare for teams.”

Stoudemire was having an MVP-type season before Anthony came aboard.

D’Antoni has already said Stoudemire is “pressing” to do too much.

As Harrellson proved in Sacramento, Stoudemire may have to play a more complementary offensive role and save his energy for defense — like Harrellson.

marc.berman@nypost.com