LOS ANGELES — The Knicks were presented a gift and said no thanks.
Clippers superstar point guard Chris Paul left the game with 3:39 left in the third quarter and eventually hobbled to the locker room, grabbing his strained right hamstring. He never returned. Nor did the Knicks’ offense.
The break was there for the Knicks to snatch, but this isn’t an opportunistic bunch.
With a sickening late offensive display, the Knicks fell for the seventh straight time despite Raymond Felton’s solid return from a hip injury. The Paul-less Clippers held off the Knicks in the final quarter to post a 93-80 victory Wednesday night at Staples Center as the Knicks dropped their seventh straight and fell to a miserable 3-11.
“It’s mindboggling,’’ Felton said after the Knicks shot 38.6 percent. “It hurts. We’re not used to it.’’
The players and coaching staff convened for a lengthy post-game meeting as the locker room was closed for more than 20 minutes. But all the talk isn’t going to matter if they don’t drain open shots.
-  Carmelo Anthony finished with 27 points but didn’t do enough in the second half or get enough help. The bench play was pitiful, as it notched 13 points total.
- The Knicks slumping shooting guards of Iman Shumpert and Sixth Man J.R. Smith combined for nine points after they each got blanked in the first half.
-  Amar’e Stoudemire, who was critical of the team’s ball movement after Monday’s loss to Portland, finished with four points and was an appalling minus-29 in 20 minutes.
But coach Mike Woodson seemed more concerned with the Shumpert-Smith riddle.
Smith shot 3 of 9 for seven points, and Shumpert 1 of 5 for two points, their season-long malaise continuing.
“I got to get more out of J.R. and Iman,’’ Woodson said. “We need J.R. to play and score the ball. I need Iman to play and score the ball.’’
The Knicks played well enough to hang in, trailing 74-68 after three quarters, but caved in offensively in the fourth quarter when they scored 12 points and shot 6 of 19. They were a putrid 3 of 20 from 3-point range — their bread and butter last season.
“We had a lot of good looks. We’re just not making shots,’’ Woodson said. “We had wide open looks. We’re struggling to score.”
Andrea Bargnani played a strong game with 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks and Felton gave them energy in a 12-point (5 of 9 from the field), six-assist return.
Nevertheless, Felton said he is “not 100 percent’’ and was in pain in the locker room speaking to reporters, needing to take a seat as he winced. Felton said he was hopeful, but gave no guarantee, he would play in Denver.
“I wasn’t 100 percent, but there’s no excuses,’’ Felton said. “We’ll see when the time comes. As of right now, I’m playing [in Denver].’’
Anthony had no answers for the latest loss.
“I don’t know what happened,’’ Anthony said. “The easiest thing to do is just crumble right now. We are in a dark space and we got to get out of it and figure it out.’’
Regarding the postgame coaches/players meeting, Anthony said, “We talked. Everybody talked. Players had a meeting with the coaches. Everybody had a meeting. We had to talk, trying to figure it out together. We have to do it for one another. Right now the game is no fun for anybody. The easiest thing to do is go our separate ways.’’
Metta World Peace, back at his old haunt, has struggled with his shot ann finished 0 for 6, as the bench play is killing them now. The subs scored just 13 points.
World Peace nearly drained a key 3-pointer with 8:02 left, the ball going halfway down before coming out. Darren Collison scored on the ensuing fastbreak and the Clippers had a 83-70 lead with 7:50 left and were never contested thereafter.
“It’s got to be better,’’ Woodson said of the bench play. “I’m a big believer in our bench. When I’m not getting what I need, I’m trying to find it. The bench was a little shaken. I got to keep scrambling in terms of our bench.’’
Paul had 15 points with seven assists but didn’t play the final 15-plus minutes because of his strained right hamstring.
Anthony and Bargnani combined for 35 points in the first half to keep the Knicks within 49-45.
The chemistry seemed way off when Stoudemire was in the contest. The Knicks had built an early 19-10 lead but it turned quickly after the $100 million man checked into the game. The Clippers rallied and took a 40-29 lead after an 11-2 run to start the second period.
In the first half, Stoudemire was a minus-21 in just 10:30. When he was off the court, the Knicks were a plus-16. He went scoreless, shot 0 for 2, including have a turnaround in the lane blocked. He grabbed just one rebound and committed three fouls. On one energizing play for the Clippers, Deandre Jordan leaped over him for an easy putback dunk.
“It’s not going to go Amar’e’s way every night,’’ Woodson said. “The minutes he’s gotten prior to tonight’s game has been pretty positive.’’