The Knicks were just good enough to lose. Again.
Carmelo Anthony provided leadership Sunday night by suiting up unexpectedly with a bad back and Amar'e Stoudemire tried to light a fire by questioning the team's desire after the Oklahoma City debacle Friday.
Anthony and Stoudemire each came up with big performances, but ultimately not winning ones.
Anthony scored 31 points in his less-than 100 percent state, playing 42 minutes, and Stoudemire added 19.
Didn't matter. It was also the night Miami's Dwyane Wade made his return from a hamstring injury — bad luck again for Knicks coach Derek Fisher. Wade made more plays down the stretch than Anthony to carry the Heat to an 86-79 Garden victory and send the Knicks to a 4-14 record.
As impressive as Anthony played, he missed a key 3-pointer in the final minute and then threw a careless pass to Tim Hardaway Jr. that went off his hands and out of bounds with 20 seconds left to seal the loss.
Despite looking slow on defense and not as explosive on offense early on, Anthony got better as the game wore on, finishing 11-of-26 from the field and 8-of-10 from the line in 42 minutes.
Wade scored 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting with five assists.
Anthony's minutes rose as J.R. Smith was limited to six minutes in the second half by an illness that coach Derek Fisher said required intravenous fluids.
Earlier Smith was reoved from the game early in the second quarter after allowing a back-door cut pass to James Ennis for an easy dunk, and Smith — who was 0-for-4 in five minutes in the half, — hung his head on the edge of the bench. Miami got up as much as 16 points midway through the second period.
Anthony managed to rack up 15 points in the first half, as he shot just 4-of-11 but got some calls and made 7-of-8 free throws.
Still, he was laboring at times early before loosening up. After converting a late-second-quarter alley-oop dunk, he slapped his back. The Knicks needed anything he could provide, and he only grimaced a couple of times.
The surprising return to action also cost Anthony money as he earned a technical. In an odd scene, Anthony was handed the ball to inbound by referee Ken Mauer. Anthony then dropped the ball as it appeared Mauer had blown the whistle in his ear. Mauer didn't take kindly to the restart and the two began jawing.
After the inbound, Anthony kept at it with Mauer and picked up the technical.
The Knicks buckled down in the third quarter, committed only one turnover and Anthony loosened up. They closed to 63-59 after three quarters.
But Wade provided his own spark. In the final minutes, he grabbed an offensive rebound, snatching it away from Iman Shumpert and laying it in to put the Heat up 77-69 with 3:50 left. On the next possession, Wade nailed a tough fallaway from the left baseline over Jose Calderon to all but seal it at 79-69 with 3:33 left. The Knicks rallied within four but Anthony couldn't close it, missing his last two shots, along with the silly pass to Hardaway.
In the third quarter, Fisher finally looked disgusted on the sideline, his face twisted after Shumpert went for the steal on Wade, who spun by him for an easy layup.
In the opening minute, Anthony got the ball near midcourt with the shot clock winding down. Instead of hoisting a desperation jumper, he handed it to the referee after a shot-clock violation.
The Knicks continued to play lazy defense at the 3-point line and Josh McRoberts bagged two consecutive 3s as the Miami lead swelled. Chris Bosh only had six points in the half but on one bucket, he faked Samuel Dalembert so badly, he glided all alone for the easy dunk.
Less than one week ago, Anthony could barely walk after suffering the back injury Monday night in Houston. He told The Post he won't return until all the spasms were gone.
"I don't think he'd put himself in danger if he was still in spasm,'' Fisher said. "I don't think he's fully comfortable either. I'm sure he's still in discomfort.''
Anthony declined to speak before the game but had said he wouldn't play if he had any spasms remaining. On Friday, Anthony said "80 percent'' of the spasms had disappeared.
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