NBA

With J.R. ailing, Knicks go belly up

QUEASY DOES IT: J.R. Smith struggled again on 4-of-12 shooting after he woke up yesterday with a fever of 102 degrees.

QUEASY DOES IT: J.R. Smith struggled again on 4-of-12 shooting after he woke up yesterday with a fever of 102 degrees. (Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post)

INDIANAPOLIS — The Knicks played as sickly as J.R. Smith looked.

The venue changed to the loud Bankers Life Field House, but it was Game 1 all over again. The Pacers outhustled, outmuscled, outboarded and shut down the Knicks offense as neither Amar’e Stoudemire’s return or J.R. Smith playing through a feverish virus could spark the Knicks.

The Pacers, with 7-foot-2 center Roy Hibbert at his low-post beastly best, captured Game 3 last night, 82-71 , to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals as the Knicks offense stunk out the state of Indiana.

“It all came down to us not scoring the basketball,’’ Carmelo Anthony said. “We can’t beat anybody scoring 71 points.’’

The winner of Game 3 in a 1-1 series has gone on to win an NBA playoff series 77 percent of the time.

Hibbert dominated Tyson Chandler just as he did in Indiana’s Game 1 win. With an array of inside hooks and tip-ins, Hibbert finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, and the Pacers outrebounded the Knicks, 53-40.

Anthony was roughed up by the swarming Pacers’ defense. He finished with 21 gritty points but had four turnovers and shot 6-of-16, missing his final seven shots. The Knicks finished shooting 35.2 percent. Anthony was their lone double-figure scorer.

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“Offensively we just didn’t have anything,’’ Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. “We didn’t have any offensive pop. Everybody struggled to shoot the ball tonight.’’

At least Smith had an excuse. Smith, looking sluggish and his face glazed over after having a 102-degree fever in the morning, shot poorly again, finishing 4-of-12 for nine points in 24 minutes.

“I knew I was going to play anyway regardless of what was going on,’’ said Smith, who developed a severe case of the chills Friday night. “It’s playoff time. No excuses.’’

Smith said he will play Tuesday in Game 4 no matter what. But the Knicks will need the Smith who lit up teams during the regular season on the way to the Sixth Man Award.

“He tried it, and that’s all we can ask,’’ Woodson said.

Stoudemire lasted 8:56, scored seven points on 3-of-8 shooting, but didn’t rebound well. He finished with two boards and missed many others. Stoudemire — who was never on the court at the same time as Anthony — wasn’t why they lost, however.

Starting point guard Raymond Felton, coming off an ankle sprain, was a big culprit. After being their most consistent playoff performer, Felton laid an egg, scoring three points on 1-of-8 shooting with two assists and three turnovers. Pablo Prigioni and Jason Kidd were also scoreless.

The Knicks 3-point shot — a historic weapon in the regular season – was nonexistent. They made 3 of 11 3-pointers as Woodson curiously did not play 3-point aces Steve Novak and Chris Copeland until garbage time.

“We weren’t even looking to shoot the 3,’’ Woodson said. “I’m just concerned about our pace and how we’re flowing.’’

“Eleven 3s is not our M.O.,’’ said Anthony, who made his lone 3-point shot.

The hustle play of the night came with 10 minutes left, as the Pacers’ Tyler Hansbrough chased an offensive rebound at the baseline, and knocked it off Chandler’s leg out of bounds. The Pacers retained possession, illustrating how the night went for the Knicks.

The Knicks, the lowest-turnover team in the league, committed 10 in the first half (14 total).

“Sometimes we held the ball too much,’’ Smith said. “We threw the ball away, had way too many turnovers. We’re not used to that.’’

Hibbert tore up the Knicks defense, and they made it too easy for the former Georgetown center.

“He got a lot more touches, was more aggressive tonight than in the first two games,’’ said Kidd, who was scoreless for the seventh straight game. “We didn’t double him and he made us pay.’’

Chandler said he didn’t have the required help on Hibbert.

“We didn’t follow the game plan on Hibbert,’’ Chandler said. “We were supposed to trap him.’’

Stoudemire hit a key bucket after the Knicks inbounded with just 4.5 seconds left in the third quarter. Stoudemire faced up and hit a left-wing 3-point buzzer beater to bring the Knicks within 62-53. It was a big shot. Stoudemire had only 30 regular-season treys in his career and three more in the postseason.

But the Knicks didn’t get closer.

“We definitely need to do a better job of sharing the ball,’’ Chandler said. “When we play individually, we are easy to defend.’’

marc.berman@nypost.com