NBA

Woodson criticizes Melo following Knicks loss to Raptors

TORONTO — Up is down. Down is up in the Knicks’ shattering world.

After the Knicks suffered their season-high fourth straight loss last night in Toronto, coach Mike Woodson took Carmelo Anthony to task for not being aggressive enough offensively in the final minute as he was outdueled by Rudy Gay.

Woodson’s critique of Anthony was a first, as is the Knicks’ losing streak that reached four games after they folded in the final two minutes and dropped a 100-98 heartbreaker to the upstart Raptors at Air Canada Centre.

The Knicks’ crisis deepened in the Great White North as they fell to third place in the Eastern Conference — one-half game behind Indiana. It’s the lowest they have ranked in the standings this season. They are one game below .500 since mid-December after starting 18-5.

Amar’e Stoudemire took the team to task for not having enough urgency. Anthony, meanwhile, admitted his late-game error passing up a golden opportunity to drive the ball by throwing a cross-court pass to an open Raymond Felton, who bricked a key 3-pointer with the game tied with 52 seconds left. Anthony finished with 32 points, but was 1-of-8 on 3-pointers and shot 3-of-8 in the fourth.

“I thought our shot selection was awful [late],’’ Woodson said. “Sometimes the 3s look good, but we had an opportunity to drive the ball, get smashed and go to the line and make free throws. Going back at the tape, the last two minutes, we had opportunities to take the ball to the rim. We settled. They made the plays down the stretch and we didn’t.’’

Referring to Anthony passing to Felton, Woodson said, “Melo got rid of it too soon. When he caught it, he had an opportunity to drive it right away and he let it go too soon.’’

The Knicks (32-20) don’t have the right mix right now and Stoudemire continues to come off the bench and not finish games. He scored 14 points in 26 minutes, but was yanked with 3:53 left in the game. He didn’t return until the final seconds after Tyson Chandler fouled out.

Stoudemire hinted the team is too cocky at this juncture.

“We got plenty of swagger, we may have too much swag,’’ Stoudemire said. “We got to get more greedy, from the standpoint of wanting to defend, wanting to win and having a sense of urgency. We have to want to win. We got to have the mentality to want to win. It don’t matter if it looks good or not. We just got to get it done. It’s not a great feeling right now.’’

With a chance to tie, down three with 8 seconds left, Anthony ended his shaky second half by missing a 3-pointer from up top over pint-sized point guard Kyle Lowry to cement the loss — the second to the Raptors (23-33) in nine days.

However, Woodson was angry at Anthony for passing up that chance to drive on Lowry a few possessions earlier. Woodson showed Anthony the tape after the game.

“I know now, especially after watching, I should’ve taken advantage of Lowry being up there on me,’’ Anthony said. “I should’ve drove to the basket and created something. Bad execution on my behalf. I should’ve just used my height and size.’’

Woodson wasn’t thrilled either when Anthony attempted a pass to Chandler on a pick-and-roll in the final minute. The play was designed for Anthony to shoot, but the pass never reached Chandler. The Knicks were bailed out, however, because Chandler was held and awarded two foul shots with 21 seconds left, down two.

Chandler only made one of two at the line, though, then fouled out by intentionally grabbing Gay, who made both free throws with 21 seconds left to finish with 32 points and give Toronto a three-point lead.

“You miss them and you make them,’’ Chandler said.

Anthony will have a busy day today — a Knicks practice, then flying to Syracuse for his college jersey retirement ceremony.

“We got to get over this hump,’’ he said. “We hit a bad stretch. We have to remain confident and start feeling good about ourselves.’’