MERCY KILLING
ROUTED BY HEAT, KNICKS OFFICIALLY ELIMINATED FROM PLAYOFF HUNT
After the first practice of the preseason at West Point, Carmelo Anthony said, “I haven’t been excited like this in a long time to actually get going and get ready to create something.’’
What the Knicks created was a mess, and they were mathematically eliminated Wednesday from the playoff race in a 105-88 Garden meltdown to the upstart Heat.
And afterward, Anthony was miserable and often cryptic.
“It was a long time ago,’’ Anthony said of his preseason optimism.
Anthony went scoreless in the first half, taking just two shots. He finished with nine points on 4-of-12 shooting and one assist.
Asked about his low shot total, Anthony said, “I don’t even know my role. I don’t know my role, to be honest.”
When pressed on what he meant, Anthony added, “I’m just here to help the guys and get them positive and motivated. I think my role at this point is to be there for these guys. I don’t think me going out there to score 30 and 40 every night, playing that way, will help them out at this point.’’
The win-now Knicks, who fell to 28-47, will participate in the May 16 lottery for a draft considered the best in years, and one that features a plethora of point guards.
Whether Anthony will play with that lottery pick is anyone’s guess. Anthony now has missed the playoffs four straight years after making it in each of his first 10 seasons as a pro.
“I see the writing on the wall,’’ An- thony said. “I see what they’re trying to do. It’s me accepting that. I think that’s what puts me at peace: Me knowing and understanding how things work. ’’
It was the first time Anthony was held scoreless in the first half of a game this season and the first time since 2012, in games he’s played at least five minutes.
In Detroit earlier this month, Anthony took just nine shots, and said afterward his selectiveness was a function of the reemphasized triangle.
Anthony has a no-trade clause but keeps giving hints he’s close to waiving it.
In a loaded response, Anthony said about his new role, “It’s difficult. It’s hard to change a player’s game in the ninth inning. I am who I am. I got here all these years playing the way I’ve been playing. It’s hard to take that step back. It’s challenging. I think it’s for the greater good of everybody on this team.”
But later when asked again about his two-shot, scoreless half, Anthony said, “It doesn’t do me any good, doesn’t do the team any good.’’
Their elimination marked the fourth straight year the Knicks have missed the playoffs. The most disgraceful part of Jackson’s inept presidency is the team has been out of the race before mid-March the last three seasons.
“It was hard,’’ said Anthony. “Even tonight, even though we won’t be playing in the playoffs and really don’t have anything to play for, it’s still hard when you still care about it. … We had one stretch of playing good basketball — that was early on in the season. Things just shifted after that.’’
Adding insult to injury, Pat Riley’s Heat club put the final nail in the Knicks’ coffin. Miami is on a stunning tear, looking like it will gain a playoff berth despite entering the season as predicted bottom-dwellers. The Heat are 26-8 in their last 34 games and moved to 37-38.
Hornacek looked like he wanted to commemorate the occasion by trying to get tossed in the third quarter. Trailing 58-47 with 9:40 left, Hornacek stormed onto the court, furious at a non-call on a Willy Hernangomez shot. Hornacek stomped his feet, screamed, and stalked the officials before assistant Jerry Sichting dragged him away before he could pick up a second technical foul.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 20 points and had eight rebounds and Hernangomez added 12 and nine.
“We didn’t expect this,’’ Porzingis said. “We didn’t have the fundamentals for this season.”