KP a no-show as Knicks close in on lotto

SAN ANTONIO — The Knicks’ western swing ended with another loss, an 0-4 record, but with a lot of ping-pong balls gained.

The mighty Spurs built a 19-point halftime lead and staved off a second-half surge by the Knicks to capture a 106-98 decision at the AT&T Center on Saturday.

With Philadelphia moving ahead of the Knicks, their fifth straight loss dropped Phil Jackson’s reeling team into a tie for the fourth-worst record in the NBA, gaining a lot of lottery momentum on the ohfer trip. The magic number to fall officially into the lottery is down to 2 — mathematical playoff elimination will come with a one more Knicks loss combined with a Miami win. The Knicks record is 27-46, and they are on pace to finish with a worse record than last season’s 32-50 clip.

On the second straight night Carmelo Anthony rested his sore left knee, Kristaps Porzingis was wracked by foul trouble and finished with just 10 points on 2-of-7 shooting. Porzingis didn’t score his first field goal until late in the fourth quarter. But his frontcourt mate, rookie center Willy Hernangomez hit his career high of 24 points and 13 rebounds. Derrick Rose had a nice night as he scored 24 points, handed out five assists and grabbed five rebounds.

“It’s something I always have trouble with,’’ said Porzingis, who played with five fouls in the fourth quarter. “I try to be aggressive on defense but I have to find that balance.”

Porzingis picked up his third with 3:01 left in the first quarter. He came out and got his fourth with 3:49 left to intermission, heading to the bench again. In 10 minutes, Porzingis was 0-for-3 with two turnovers and two points in the half. At one point, Spurs TV commentator Sean Elliott said Porzingis “has to get his head in the game.’’

Spurs center Pau Gasol, whom the Knicks failed to pursue in free agency, rocked them for 12 of his 19 points in the first half, firing freely from the perimeter. Kawhi Leonard, without Anthony as a foe, struck for 29 points as the Spurs moved to 56-16.

The Knicks shot just 37.8 percent in the first half with their veterans, Porzingis (0-for-3), Courtney Lee (1-for-6) and Rose (4for-12) combining to shoot 5-for-21 while their two rookie starters, Hernangomez (4-4) and Mindaugas Kuzminskas (5-6) shooting 9 of 10.