Carmelo Anthony keeps the Knicks' winning streak alive; Helps Knicks beat Mavericks 104-94: NBA Recap
Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points and grabbed seven rebounds as the New York Knicks beat the Dallas Mavericks 104-94 here at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
J.R. Smith was hot again as he came off the bench to add 22 points for the Knicks, going three of three from downtown. New York also received thirteen points from Ronnie Brewer and eleven points with nine rebounds from Tyson Chandler.
O.J. Mayo tried his best as he mustered a team high 23 points and was well supported by Vince Carter, who scored 15 points and had 6 rebounds, but it was not enough to contain the red hot Knicks from stealing the show.
With this win, Knicks go 4-0 for the first time since the 1993-1994 season. After a disappointing first half, they upped their defense to only let in 37 points. Head coach Mike Woodson was all praise for his team’s defensive effort;
"I thought the second half, we kind of settled in and our defense began to click a little bit. We held them to 37 points in the second half and we've had four straight games where no one has scored 40 points in the second half, so that's locking in and taking pride in defending the ball."
Mavericks’ rookie small forward Jae Crowder, who up till Friday was going pretty well, could not click tonight and managed seven points only. Knicks’ sharp shooter Steve Novak also struggled on the night with only five points.
It was 11-all five minutes into the game. The Knicks scored the next four to go up 15-11 before Dallas reacted and a Chris Kaman jump shot tied the score at 20 later in the period. Carmelo Anthony’s layup in the final seconds of the period got the Knicks up by 25-23.
Mavericks started the second quarter with an 13-3 run to go up 36-28. Knicks slashed the deficit gradually and the score was tied at 44 all when Anthony nailed one in from downtown. Dallas went up 51-46 after a Kaman jump shot but the Knicks kept their lead in check and closed the first half trailing by only two, 55-57.
Raymond Felton layup put the Knicks ahead 63-62 early in the period but a Brandan Wright jump shot saw the lead switch hands once more as Mavericks went 66-65. New York started pulling ahead in the later part of the period and went into the fourth quarter leading 84-78.
There were no major runs in the final period as the Knicks held their advantage all the way till the end. Mavs never really looked like threatening the Knicks as they could not come closer than six points.
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