Carmelo Anthony hopes to build on his finest moment in New York when he leads his Knicks into the Second City to face Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls in the back end of a home-and-home set.
In a game filled with momentum changes on Sunday, Anthony scored a season-high 43 and drained the go-ahead three-point shot with 8.2 seconds left in overtime, boosting New York to a 100-99 win over Chicago, spoiling the return of Rose, the reigning NBA MVP, to the Bulls' lineup.
The Knicks blew a 21-point, first-quarter lead and then had to rally from a 10-point deficit with under four minutes left in regulation. Anthony, who shot 16-of-31 from the field and made 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, forced the extra session by nailing a long three-pointer with 11.2 seconds left.
Rose, who missed the previous 12 games due to a strained groin, had 29 points. He had a chance to give Chicago the win, but his right-handed shot from the left baseline clanked off the rim as time expired.
Before Sunday, the last game Rose played was against the Knicks on March 12. The Bulls went 8-4 in his absence. The All-Star was rusty and went 8-of-26 from the floor and accounted for eight of his team's 20 turnovers. Rose also missed two key free with 19.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
"Free throws, turnovers; that's the reason why we lost the game," Rose said. "I had a lot of turnovers just getting back into rhythm."
Iman Shumpert had 15 points and nine rebounds, while Tyson Chandler had 16 boards for the Knicks, who have won two in a row and are tied with the 76ers for seventh in the Eastern Conference, 1 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee.
New York, which continues to play without injured starters Jeremy Lin (knee) and Amare Stoudemire (back), also received 14 points from J.R. Smith. They went just 8-of-34 from beyond the arc, but got their first win over the Bulls in three tries this season.
Carlos Boozer tallied 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Eastern Conference- leading Bulls, who have lost three of their last four games and lead No. 2 Miami by two games. Chicago is also now just one game in front of West powerhouse Oklahoma City for the NBA's best record.
On Sunday, Rose's pull-up jumper widened Chicago's OT lead to 99-95 inside three minutes, but the Knicks got some key offensive rebounds late and were able to go ahead.
First, Anthony sank a layup with 64 seconds left. Then, in a crazy sequence, he missed a pair of attempts from in close, but the Knicks tapped the ball out to Smith, who missed a three-pointer. Chandler tapped the ball out to Anthony, who dribbled to the right wing before raising up for the go-ahead shot over Luol Deng.
"I didn't want to just go to the hole and throw something crazy up. I felt like my best shot at that time was just to pull up," said Anthony of the shot. "This was a playoff game...So this was a big statement game for us."
The Knicks are now a solid 11-3 since interim coach Mike Woodson took over for Mike D'Antoni.
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