Anthony Takes Control, and Knicks Win Again - New York Times

game - Google News Google News

Anthony Takes Control, and Knicks Win Again - New York Times Mar 29th 2012, 02:12 Amar'e Stoudmire was already a Knicks star when Carmelo Anthony arrived in New York last year. A season later, while Anthony was sidelined with an injury, Jeremy Lin became a national sensation. What the Knicks were before Anthony arrived and what they have been in his absence has stubbornly framed the substance and the appraisal of his tenure with the Knicks. Carmelo Anthony, who tied for the game high with 25 points, shooting over Jason Richardson. But for at least a few games this week, the Knicks have been something they had never been in a tangible way: Carmelo's team. With Stoudmire recovering from a bulging disk in his back, and Lin and Jared Jeffries nursing knee injuries, the Knicks have turned to Anthony, putting the ball and their late-season playoff hopes in his hands. And for the second successive game, he responded by leading the Knicks to an easy victory. On Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, Anthony scored 25 points in a little more than 26 minutes — including a stretch when he had 11 in less than six minutes — as the Knicks routed the Orlando Magic, 108-86, and increased their lead to two and a half games over Milwaukee for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Anthony's outburst early in the third quarter fueled a run of 21 unanswered Knicks points. Statistics do not adequately detail Anthony's offensive dominance. In the first half, he carved up the Magic's defense with deft inside moves. In the second half, Anthony, who had 28 points Monday in the Knicks' victory against Milwaukee, devastated the Magic from the outside. He also had six assists, a steal and a blocked shot. Anthony, who is playing despite a groin injury, has suffered through an uneven season, often seeming unsure of his role — passing when he should shoot and shooting when he should pass. He seemed to rarely score at pivotal moments of Knicks victories and shot poorly in Knicks defeats. But with Knicks injuries mounting or lingering, Anthony has — so far — found the right touch at all the right times. Coach Mike Woodson, who is now 8-1 leading the Knicks, would not have it any other way. "He's a big part of what we do," Woodson said before Wednesday's game. "He knows we're going to ask him to step up. We're going to need that until we get healthy." After a shaky first quarter, the Knicks surged to a 57-41 first-half lead behind Anthony and the outside shooting of Steve Novak, who finished the game with 16 points. But to start the second half, Anthony tossed in a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Two Knicks possessions later, he drained another 3 from the left wing. He followed that with a jumper from the right wing and the Knicks' lead jumped to 67-47. After the Magic's Dwight Howard, who was held to 12 points and 5 rebounds, converted a layup, the Knicks went on a run of 21 points led primarily by Anthony and Iman Shumpert, whose 25 points were a career high. The Knicks' thrashing of Orlando did not seem imminent in the first quarter. Lin may not be known for his defense, but his absence seemed to draw the focus of the Magic, who immediately attacked Lin's replacement, Baron Davis. Orlando guard Jameer Nelson took the game's first shot of the game after shaking free of Davis to sink an open 3-point shot from the corner. Nelson did not let up, bursting past Davis for a running 8-foot jumper for the Magic's second basket. Davis was having troubles at the other end of the court as well. When he made a bad pass into the lane for a turnover, he did not get back fast enough on the subsequent Orlando fast break and Hedo Turkoglu made a layup with Davis fouling him. When Turkoglu converted that free throw, the Magic had a 12-5 lead. Nelson finished with 11 points in the first quarter, which ended with Orlando ahead, 29-25. The Knicks' overall defense improved slightly as the second quarter — at least Nelson was not running wild — but it was drastically better ball movement on offense that let the Knicks open a wide lead. Anthony benefited from the Knicks' quick, efficient passing, but so did Novak and Shumpert. Novak once again helped change the complexion of the game with his now customary bevy of long and medium-range jumpers. Shumpert also added two 3-pointers that helped extend the Knicks' lead to 45-38 with a little more than three minutes left in the first half. When Shumpert sliced through the lane for a scooping, underhanded banked layup with 1 minute 12 seconds left until intermission, the Knicks were up, 52-38. Anthony was out of the game at that point, but he had already made his impact. With a variety of inside moves, he made half of his eight shots from the floor and converted five of six free throws. Anthony's 13 first-half points came in just 17 minutes. Whenever he left the game, he rode a stationary bicycle positioned a few yards from the Knicks' bench, wedged into the baseline grandstand. The Garden scoreboard would occasionally show Anthony pedaling. The fans, once indifferent — at best — in their response to him, erupted in cheers. A version of this article appeared in print on March 29, 2012, on page B13 of the New York edition with the headline: Anthony Takes Control, And Knicks Win Again. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions