TORONTO — There was little joy in the Knicks locker room when it was over. They live one more day, but it may be only one after getting no help from their rivals in Brooklyn.
With four days to rehab his right shoulder and mind, Carmelo Anthony reeled off 30 points and Amar’e Stoudemire added 24 points and 11 rebounds as the Knicks handled the Raptors 108-100 at Air Canada Center.
But their impressive victory wound up bittersweet, even if Anthony weren’t going to let his playoff dream die on the court.
Twenty minutes after the final buzzer, Mike Woodson, his coaching staff and some players watched in the locker room as the Hawks squeaked out a five-point victory over Brooklyn on a night Knicks fans became Nets fans.
The Hawks’ triumph put the Knicks’ tragic number at one. The Knicks don’t play until Sunday night against the Bulls, but by then it could be over if the Hawks beat the Heat on Saturday night in Atlanta. It would be the first time Anthony would miss the playoffs.
“It’s difficult,’’ Anthony said. “We don’t control our destiny. It’s unfortunate. It took more pressure on us.’’
Anthony and Stoudemire combining for 54 points allowed the Knicks to staved off mathematical elimination. But now they have to go 3-0 while the Hawks go 0-3.
“It’s not impossible, it’s a long shot,’’ J.R. Smith said. “We can’t worry about what Atlanta is doing. We’re the ones who dug ourselves in this hole.’’
“We have to hope that Atlanta loses the next three and we win three,’’ said Woodson, who plans to watch the Hawks on Saturday. “That’s the only way we have a shot of getting in. I can’t be deflated. Had we lost, it would really be tough. But we won. They won. We got to see what we’re made of Sunday.’’
Playing with a strained right shoulder, Anthony’s 30 points were seven more than he totaled in his previous two games combined when he struggled badly with his sore shoulder. He scored multiple ways, banging in the post for position and sinking jumpers, fall-aways — the whole gamut.
Yes, the four-day rehab did wonders.
“It helped, helped a lot,’’ Anthony said. “It helped big time.It got a chance to get rest and treatment.’’
Meanwhile, Stoudemire, who complained he didn’t get the ball inside enough in the Knicks’ last game, in Miami, was a monster underneath. Woodson let him roll a season-high 39:52 minutes, racking up a 24-and-11 game. His rebirth as the Knicks’ starting power forward was one of the best stories of the season.
Woodson decided to bench Tyson Chandler and give Stoudemire fourth-quarter minutes.
“I rode him,’’ said Woodson, who had refused to play Stoudemire more than 30 minutes under the medical staff’s restrictions.
“I mentioned it to him,’’ Stoudemire said of raising his minutes Friday. “It was a do-or-die moment.’’
Anthony finished 8 of 17 from the field, 13 of 14 from the line. He said before the game his right shoulder felt good and effectively kept it warm throughout the game, which had been a prior problem.
“I tried to keep it heated and keep it from getting tight,’’ he said.
Anthony was one of the few who didn’t watch the Atlanta outcome in Brooklyn.
“I don’t got time to watch it,’’ Anthony said.
More likely, it was too painful. When asked if there were a number of games he’d reflect on for costing the Knicks a playoff berth, Anthony said: “It’s hard to do that now. When it’s all said and done, I’m pretty sure I will look back and say, ‘These are the games we gave away and should have won.’ ’’