The Giants on Friday threw a Hail Mary pass in court papers involving Eli Manning’s fake-memorabilia case, claiming an alleged smoking-gun e-mail doesn’t implicate their star quarterback.

Lawyers for Big Blue argued that Manning wasn’t asking team equipment manager Joe Skiba “to create false helmets” when he wrote that he needed “2 helmets that can pass as game used” in 2010.

“It was simply a request from Mr. Manning for his game-used helmets that were in possession of the equipment staff,” according to the filing in Bergen County Superior Court in New Jersey.

The Giants also asked the judge to impose sanctions on plaintiffs in the case over an exclusive Post report about Manning’s e-mail, noting the scoop sparked “numerous” other articles about the missive, which the Giants said should have been kept under wraps.

“Since nothing in the parties’ confidentiality agreement or the applicable law allows Manning and the Giants to censor public court filings, their motions are part of a desperate attempt to bully our clients,’’ the plaintiffs’ lawyer wrote.