So much for the Knicks' claim they were "starving'' for more success after their first-round conquest of Boston.
In their first Eastern Conference semifinal game in 13 years, the Knicks looked sated, sluggish and just plain awful.
A foul-plagued Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith combined to a shoot a wayward 14 of 43 as the Pacers crushed the Knicks in Game 1 with a convincing 102-95 victory before an angry Garden crowd. The fans rained boos on the lethargic Knicks after they fell behind 16 points after the third quarter.
The Knicks had strived all season to capture the second seed over Indiana to get home court in this series. And they gave back home court to the Pacers in one stinking afternoon.
"You take out the X's and O's, they flat-out played harder than we did,'' Anthony said. "They outplayed us and outworked us. Nothing else needs to be said about that.''
Mike Woodson was stunned at the flat effort.
"I thought they played harder than we did," the coach said. "That was the difference. They did all the little things.''
That included the Pacers pounding the Knicks on the glass to the tune of 44-30, including 11 offensive rebounds.
After their terrific defensive series against the Celtics, the Knicks took a giant step backwards as the Pacers shot 48.7 percent and already have imposed their size on the series.
The Knicks talked about changing the smallball approach and going big against Indiana for Game 2 tomorrow. That movement will increase if Amar'e Stoudemire is ready as expected for Saturday's Game 3, providing more big-man depth.
That would mean starting Kenyon Martin at power forward and allowing Anthony to move back to small forward so he would not have to deal with the Pacers' bruising David West (20 points). That would also send Pablo Prigioni to the bench.
"Melo's a natural 3," Martin said. "So if we go big, we'll see. That's for the coaching staff to worry about."
Anthony scored 27 points, 15 in the fourth quarter, but he shot a dreadful 10-of-28. He played with five fouls most of the fourth quarter, getting roughed up. His left shoulder is not 100 percent, and he played with a tight black shirt sleeve over it, covering a harness strap to keep the arm more stable.
Asked about ditching the smallball alignment, Anthony said, "They're a bigger team, but I don't want to panic or overanalyze that situation.''
Smith's shooting slump continued. Despite finishing with 17 points, he started the game 1-of-10 and finished 4-of-15. Since returning from a suspension for Game 4 of the Celtics series, Smith is shooting an alarming 12-of-42.
"We got to get those two guys hitting their shots, and it probably would've been a different outcome," Martin said.
The game-sealing sequence was illustrative of the duo's lack of spark. With the Knicks rallying to within six, Anthony lost control of the ball. Smith scooped it up near midcourt, dribbled in and misfired on a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left.
The Knicks also were obliterated in the key All-Star center matchup. Roy Hibbert outplayed Tyson Chandler, who fouled out with 2:36 left after a stumbling, four-point, three-rebound dud.
Hibbert, in his best performance at the Garden, finished with 14 points (6-of-9 shooting), eight rebounds and five blocks.
"I got to get involved in the game more,'' Chandler said.
Former Lincoln High star Lance Stephenson also made MSG his playground, busting the Knicks with 11 points, 13 rebounds and one embarrassing blow-by on Smith. Even backup Pacers point guard D.J. Augustin came off the bench for 16 points.
"We didn't play well,'' said Jason Kidd, who was scoreless for the fifth straight playoff game. "We didn't deserve to win. We learned a little bit about ourselves this afternoon. At this level you have to be ready and we just weren't.''
Iman Shumpert said, "All I know is we lost because we didn't play hard enough."
marc.berman@nypost.com
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