Is the Super Bowl here yet?
The Knicks didn’t live up to the Super-Bowl Eve moment. When Carmelo Anthony hit that midcourt shot at the halftime buzzer nine days ago, you knew he would set a Garden scoring record by night’s end.
But when Anthony botched three straight free throws Saturday night at the end of the first half, you knew the Knicks were going into the tank against the two-time defending champion Heat, which romped 106-91.
Not so super.
LeBron James performed surgery on the Knicks’ defense, dissecting them like Peyton Manning will try to dissect the Seahawks across the river. He put up a wondrous line of 30 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and six steals, knocking out the Knicks for good in the final minutes with dunks and thefts and toying with them with 2:30 left trying to throw a pass to himself off the backboard.
“He made every play down the stretch to make sure they could walk out of this building with the win,’’ coach Mike Woodson said.
Smith and Tim Hardaway Jr. couldn’t defend James. Hardaway couldn’t defend anyone. It got so bad Anthony tackled his buddy James on a fastbreak in the third quarter. Dwyane Wade (22 points) and James combined to shoot a super 23-of-35, and the Knicks’ four-game winning streak was done.
The biggest number of the night, though, was 28. That’s the number of losses the Knicks now have — already tying last season’s total.
This historic Super Bowl overshadowed the Knicks-Heat battle. At the top of the stairs at Penn Station Saturday, a yellow-jacketed volunteer directed the rush of fans to Super Bowl Boulevard two blocks East, not to the Garden.
A college basketball doubleheader was being staged on the premises followed by Heat-Knicks in the nightcap. But basketball was overshadowed — even outside the building James likes refer to as “The Mecca of Basketball.”
James marveled at the relatively good weather the Heat brought from Miami.
“The weather’s really not that bad,’’ James said when asked about a NYC Super Bowl. “I think New York is a great city to host the game. I’m looking forward to watching it. Great defense vs. great offense. It should be another great one.’’
This one wasn’t so great for the Knicks, as the Heat jumped out to a 14-point lead in the second quarter. The Knicks made some runs, but never were able to get ahead.
Tyson Chandler called it “a bump in the road,’’ but it is the most important bump.
Outside the Garden, early evening, thousands of neon-green clad fans from Seattle and orange-outfitted Denver fans hustled their way to the crush of Broadway between 34th and 46th streets — for the football festivities on Super Bowl Boulevard. The top of the Empire State Building was lit up in Seahawks green and Broncos orange.
It was mayhem — patrons stuck in walking traffic for minutes at a time — worse than Christmas week.
“Just as bad as New Year’s Eve,’’ an NYPD officer said.
You never would know Miami-Knicks were ready to square off. The rivalry had met its match in Midtown Manhattan on this weekend day.
Maybe the city would have buzzed more about Saturday’s showdown if the Knicks were not nine games below .500.
“Your record is who you are, but they’ve been playing great basketball of late,’’ James said.
James and Melo have squared off since high school. This one came eight days after Anthony dropped a record 62.
But Anthony (26 points) was more tentative than James, who benefited from the absence of Iman Shumpert (strained right shoulder). Anthony also committed seven turnovers.
“We were loose with the ball, which was out of character,’’ Anthony said.
The celebrities were in place — Hugh Jackman, Ricky Gervais, Evander Holyfield, Lynn Swann, David Beckham, Edie Falco, Macklemore, Darryl Strawberry.
The star power is likely one reason James said this still is his favorite road arena.
“It’s the mecca of basketball,’’ he said. “I always like the opportunity to play in such a historical venue.’’
As big as another Knicks-Heat showdown should have felt, outside the Garden, two blocks from Broadway, was the bigger deal.
Maybe that will be different if and when the teams hook up in late April.