New York Knicks hold off Los Angeles Lakers 116-107; Go 9-0 at home: NBA Recap
New York Knicks improved their home record to 9-0 as they handed Los Angeles Lakers their fourth consecutive defeat, holding them off to 107-116 here at the Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
Carmelo Anthony dropped 22 of his 30 points in the first quarter in 10 of 15 shooting from the floor and although his stay was cut short by a sprained ankle in the third period, the Knicks held the Lakers rally late in the game
to spoil Mike D’ Antoni return to New York. The last player to score 30 while playing 22 or fewer minutes was David Robinson in 1995.
"I was zoned in. I was locked in, tonight was one of those games where I had that feeling. I wanted to get it going and I had that feeling going early in the game. My teammates were feeding off of that." Anthony said.
Raymond Felton added 19 points; Tyson Chandler had 18 while J.R. Smith also chipped in with 18 points. The Knicks came into this game holding the league highest 3 point attempts record and kept up to their reputation, going 12
out of 25 from behind the arc, with Steve Novak making 4 of 5 to add 12 points.
Kobe Bryant should score less than 30 points or score them all as once again he crossed the 30 point mark and the Lakers lost, he finished off with 31 points 10 rebounds and 6 assists. Metta World Peace had 23 points while Dwight
Howard added 20 points and grabbed 7 rebounds on the night.
Anthony made his intentions clear right at the start of the game as he sank 3 three pointers in the first 2:30 minutes of play. The Knicks were red hot on the offensive in the first quarter and a 6-0 burst put them up 22-13, they
raced to a season high 41 points in a single quarter.
Jason Kidd knocked down a three pointer early in the second period to push their lead to 49-30. The hosts kept bombing from the three point land and were leading 68-49 at halftime. Knicks maintained their advantage for most of
the third period. A Novak shot from downtown had them leading 85-64 with 5 minutes to go in the quarter before the Lakers closed the period with a 7-0 run to reduce the deficit down to 80-93.
Bryant kept the Lakers in contention; he fired a three pointer to pull the Lakers to within 99-106 with 4:47 left on the regulation. But the Carmelo-less Knicks kept scoring baskets to stay a sufficient distance ahead. World Peace
scored one from foul line to make it a 6 point game on 107-113 but the Lakers could score no more as the Knicks went on to win 116-107.
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