OAKLAND, Calif. — Mike D’Antoni has gone from the most hated coach in New York to an offensive genius in a matter of days.
The Knicks’ speedball offense, criticized up and down the streets of Manhattan, exploded last night, racking up 72 first-half points as D’Antoni’s team captured its second straight northern California triumph in a gutsy 125-119 decision against the David Lee-less Warriors at Oracle Arena.
Point guard Raymond Felton was sensational, finishing with a career-high 35 points and 11 assists. Amar’e Stoudemire played with perfect efficiency racking up 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting and going 7-of-8 from the foul line, ripping down 11 boards and blocking two shots.
“He played great tonight,” Stoudemire said of Felton. “He was falling down making shots.”
Danilo Gallinari hit three monster 3-pointers and two critical free throws down the stretch to keep the surging Warriors at bay and quiet the roaring crowd. Gallinari finished with 23 points, and his last trey from the right corner put them up 119-112 with 1:23 left as he finished with 11 fourth-quarter points. They survived despite Monta Ellis’ 40 points and played with poise in the final three minutes after Golden State cut an 18-point deficit to two.
So many Knicks teams in recent years have folded in the fourth quarter under such a Warrior barrage.
When asked last night if it was nerve wracking watching the Warriors whittle the deficit to two, D’Antoni said jokingly, “It’s nerve wracking also because we haven’t won in 58,000 years.”
The Knicks moved the ball with precision, hit the open man, took mostly smart shots and Gallinari dazzled in the clutch to repel a ferocious late charge by the Warriors, who couldn’t miss in the fourth quarter.
“It was important and it was not an easy part of the game — I had to step up and use one of my strengths,” Gallinari said. “There was no hesitation, and I’ve got my legs under me now.”
After Stoudemire hit a huge banked drive to make it 116-112 with 2:02 left, Stephen Curry finally missed a jumper to end the Warriors’ stretch of nine straight possessions with points.
It was the Knicks’ first win in Oakland since 2001, and it dealt the Warriors (7-5) their first loss at home this season. The Knicks avenged a Garden defeat to the Warriors nine days ago when Lee starred but suffered an elbow infection that’s still keeping him out. The Knicks (5-8) go for a California trifecta tonight in Los Angeles against the disastrous Clippers (1-12).
“We got an opportunity to make this a special trip,” Stoudemire said. “We’re starting to get our momentum and swagger. We’re learning what it takes to win down the stretch.”
With a win in Los Angeles, the Knicks would finish the trip 3-1 after dire West-Coast predictions.
“We have to go back to New York with these three wins,” Gallinari said.
After losing six straight, the Knicks are on a two-game winning streak since D’Antoni took mistake-ridden ex-Golden State forward Anthony Randolph out of the rotation. The Knicks scored a 113-106 victory over the Kings on Wednesday.
D’Antoni sensed before the game the team was getting the hang of the system and felt it unfair fans were viewing his up-tempo offense as a bunch of guys hoisting treys early in the shot clock.
The Knicks led 72-59 at intermission as they shot 55.6 percent and still led by 13 points, despite Golden State guard Ellis’ heroic 24-point explosion, when he hit 11 of 16 shots.
It was not a defensive clinic in the first half, with the Knicks and Warriors — as is their custom — combining for 131 points in the half. The Knicks shot 57 percent for the night, making 10 of 23 3-pointers.
“We don’t want to jack up threes early in the shot clock,” D’Antoni said yesterday at the morning shootaround. “There’s a difference. If you’re wide open and we get it down and they get you on the numbers, go ahead. Why find a worst shot if it’s a good shot. We don’t want you coming down, maybe off the dribble, and you’re shooting 25 percent and jack it up.
Though the Knicks shot 56 percent, the highlight play of the half came when Ellis drove down the lane and soared several feet in the air in Jordanesque fashion for a monster tomahawk jam on ex-teammate Ronny Turiaf in the second quarter. The rest of the Knicks remained frozen watching his flight.
The Knicks, whose penchant for hoisting too many 3-pointers has been under question, fired up 14 in the half and made six for a solid 43 percent. Felton was the hottest Knick, finishing with 17 points in the half, making 7 of 10 shots, 3 of 5 from 3-point range.
Felton was terrific. Late in the second quarter, he slipped while driving inside the key, yet threw up a wild 13-footer that banked in off the glass. It gave the Knicks a 64-48 lead. Felton gave the Knicks their biggest lead at 95-77 when he sank an open trey from up top late in the third before the Warriors couldn’t miss in the fourth quarter and rallied to within two points.
In the first half, Felton completely outdid Curry, who had just nine in the first half and deferred to Ellis. Curry finished with 29 after he got hot in the fourth quarter.
Even the ball had enough of going through the twine. Late in the second quarter, the ball was replaced when Stoudemire blocked a Vlad Radmanovich shot and it landed on top of the shot clock that hangs over the backboard. The ball rested there and would not come down. A maintenance crew retrieved it at halftime.
The new ball still slid through the net with frequency and the Knicks scored 41 points in the second quarter. Wilson Chandler also added 10 points in his first 10 minutes off the bench. marc.berman@nypost.com