The Shelly Silver defense will come down to trying to convince the jury to believe in one magical word: coincidence.

You know, like when you come home to find your cat licking its paws, sitting next to a goldfish bowl that is lying empty on the floor, the goldfish nowhere in sight.

The look on the cat’s face says: Goldfish bowl? Oh, that. These things have a way of falling on the floor. Indoor lightning strikes. Small earthquakes. Gamma rays from cellphone towers, too. I don’t know what happened to the goldfish. I was napping. Maybe he kind of slithered out the door and caught a cab to the aquarium. I’m actually kind of offended by that suspicious look on your face. I’m just a humble cat. You bore me.

Go away.

The Silver jury is going to be asked to believe in an amazing series of coincidences that just happened to make Silver very rich. He was standing there minding his own business when a cloud of gold moved overhead and it started raining money.

It’s sheer coincidence that Silver happened to direct $500,000 of state money — taxpayer funding spent solely at his discretion — to the research of cancer doctor Robert Taub after Taub referred asbestos victims worth more than $3 million in fees to Silver, who had introduced them to his asbestos-litigating friends at the firm of Weitz & Luxenberg. Weitz & Luxenberg partners testified that they had no idea this was going on.

It’s sheer coincidence that a memo signed by Silver shows him happily agreeing to “division of fees” with Jay Arthur Goldberg, the real-estate lawyer and Silver’s lifelong friend to whom Silver steered the business of real-estate firm Glenwood, which, in turn, just happened to want tax breaks Silver just happened to provide.

Silver pocketed some $750,000 in commissions this way. Glenwood’s chief finance officer said he had no idea this was going on.

The prosecution must show there was a quid pro quo. In posing its questions, the defense has been arguing (and I do mean arguing — Judge Valerie Caproni has repeatedly admonished Silver’s lawyer, Steven Molo, “Don’t argue with the witness!”) that Silver is getting persecuted for doing a couple of favors for friends.

But it’s blindingly obvious Silver did a couple of favors for money. Taub didn’t even have Silver’s cellphone number and never shared a meal with him.

When the prosecution presents its closing arguments, they should ask the jury: How many of your friendships just happened to net you 4 million bucks?