Amar’e Stoudemire and J.R. Smith were back, full of hope, and the Knicks were back at a newly transformed Garden ,full of glitter.
But the preseason ended on a dampening note as Carmelo Anthony missed a final, potential game-tying shot in the last ticks and the Knicks, who blew a 19-point first-half lead, lost to the Bobcats, 85-83. They went stone-cold in the second half, scoring just 28 points and finished 2-5 on the preseason.
Anthony finished a woeful 4 of 17 for 13 points. In his Garden debut as a Knick, Andrea Bargnani was a listless 2 of 10 and struggled on defense.
“I wasn’t in a good rhythm all night,’’ Anthony said. “I missed it. I’ll take it again. That was the play — try to get the ball up top and find an open spot and hopefully the ball goes in.’’
But it didn’t, and the Knicks have four days off to prepare for their season opener against the Bucks at the Garden on Wednesday.
The good news is Stoudemire and Smith looked fine in their limited preseason debuts coming off knee surgeries. Kenyon Martin also made his preseason debut after resting his chronic ankle issue.
Stoudemire was 3 of 4 from the field and finished with six points in 12 minutes, scoring all of his buckets on powerful low-post moves he learned from Hakeem Olajuwon in the summer of 2012.
“It’s a great feeling to be out there,” he said. “My total body is much stronger than it was.’’
Stoudemire’s scheduled stint with Olajuwon this past summer was dashed when he had minor knee surgery in July and the team chose to shut him down until training camp. Nevertheless, he looked sharp.
“I was very impressed with what Amar’e was able to do on the court,’’ Anthony said. “It was good to see them guys healthy. Our health is always a big key to our success. Those three will be big piece to the puzzle.’’
Smith’s highlight came when he sank a 35-footer at the third-quarter buzzer just past halfcourt and windmilled his right arm. Smith scored 11 points in 12:56 — on a minutes restriction.
“I wanted to play more minutes,’’ Smith said. “Unfortunately I couldn’t. I was on restrictions. They told me they’d play me 10, 15 minutes. It was hard to comprehend. It’s telling the pitbull not to bite the burger.’’
Anthony played for 34:22 and his shooting declined as the preseason wore on. He shot just 36 of 96 in the preseason.
Before his last-second miss from the left of the key off an inbounds pass, Anthony missed a final-minute baseline fadeaway. On the next possession, Iman Shumpert was in and out on a corner 3-pointer after Bargnani passed up shooting an open look with 28 seconds remaining.
Before his last-second miss from the left of the key off an inbounds, Anthony missed a final-minute baseline fadeaway. On the next possession, Iman Shumpert was in and out on a corner 3-pointer after Bargnani passed up shooting an open look with 28 seconds remaining.
“I thought we played in spurts,’’ Woodson said. “You’re up 19 and you get comfortable and relaxed and not play the way you got the 19-point lead.’’
Because of the frequent road trips to places such as Providence, R.I., Manchester, N.H., and Green Bay, Wis., Anthony said the preseason was disjointed.
“It was different,’’ Anthony said. “We’ve been on the road this whole preseason. To finally be on our homecourt and have just one preseason game, believe it or not, it was tough for us. Throughout the whole preseason, we had only five days here. We never had chance to adjust here. But that’s over now. The real deal starts and this new journey begins.’’
Unfortunately for the Knicks, the journey starts without Smith, who will start serving his five-game marijuana suspension, and without any momentum after blowing a 19-point lead to lowly Charlotte.