Carmelo Anthony’s spearheads the New York Knicks to a thrilling 110-109 win over the Indiana Pacers
Small forward Carmelo Anthony landed a game-high 34 points as the New York Knicks outshined the surging Indiana Pacers for a breathtaking 110-109 victory at Conseco Fieldhouse on Sunday night. The spirited Anthony buried a sizzling
jump shot and then blocked a potential game winning jumper by Danny Granger in the defining moments of the game to lead Knicks towards their seventh straight win.
Chauncey Billups joined the action with the scoring machine of the night and scored 21 points followed by seven assists to put the visiting Knicks on the frontline.
The highlight of the night Anthony said after the game. “As a team, we've come a long way since I've gotten here. I think everybody bought into what's going on, bought into the Mike D'Antoni system. I told you it was going to take
some time. It's starting to click, offensively and defensively."
Five players from the Pacers scored in double figures however their efforts resulted slightly insufficient against the mighty performance of the All-Star Anthony. Danny Granger landed a team-high 20 points for the Indiana while
Roy Hibbert had an impressive night with the ball as he racked up 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The game wavered throughout the night as both the teams gave tough time to each other.
The Pacers headed out with 13-9 run in the initial four minutes of the first quarter and clinched an early advantage. On the verge of cutting down the deficit, Anthony took the charge stoutly and came up with a driving layup shot
to snatch the lead 21-19 for New York. Jared Jeffries landed a scorching blow from beyond the arc as the Knicks procured six points advantage. Indiana’s starters responded swiftly and reclaimed the advantage 33-30 when Anthony assailed from long distance to
escalate a tie 33-33 as the first period ended.
The home team romped with 6-1 run in the preliminary minutes of the second quarter and managed to nab 39-34 advantage. However the Knicks surged with five blistering blows from downtown before halftime and the home team sealed
a comprehensive 67-61 advantage as the game progressed into the first quarter.
Indiana showed great retaliation in the third quarter when they extensively dominated the proceedings of the period. The home team restricted the aggressive Knicks to score in more than five minutes of the time-play during the
quarter. Collins and Hibbert lifted the momentum and snatched the lead 76-72. Despite of Anthony’s forceful charge after that, Indiana kept their momentum intact and procured a massive 96-87 lead before entering into the final 12 minutes of the play.
The Knicks went for 10-2 run with the start of the final quarter to reduce the lead. However the Pacers were marching forward stoutly towards the victory and managed bring back the lead to 103-97 with McRoberts driving bank shot
followed by a 3-pointer by Granger. Anthony smashed the opposition with two successive blows from downtown in the last five minutes. Anthony then landed a decisive jump shot and blocked Granger’s surge for a jumper to clinch a thrilling 110-109 victory.
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